A PLC‐Based Optical Sub‐assembly of Triplexer Using TFF‐Attached WDM and PD Carriers

We have fabricated a planar lightwave circuit (PLC) hybrid‐integrated optical sub‐assembly of a triplexer using a thin film filter (TFF)‐attached wavelength division multiplexer (WDM) and photodiode (PD) carriers. Two types of TFFs were attached to a diced side of a silica‐terraced PLC platform, and the PD carriers with a 45° mirror on which pin‐PDs were bonded were assembled with the platform. A clear transmitter eye‐pattern and minimum receiver sensitivity of ‐24.5 dBm were obtained under 1.25 Gb/s operation for digital applications, and a second‐order inter‐modulation distortion (IMD2) of‐70 dBc was achieved for an analog receiver.     

SUPER-HEURISTICS AND THEIR APPLICATIONS TO COMBINATORIAL PROBLEMS

Combinatorial problems are known to be difficult because of the shear size of the solution space and the lack of polynomial time algorithms to “solve” them. Heuristics are often devised to produce acceptable solutions in an affordable time. In this paper, we propose a method called super-heuristic that expands the capabilities of heuristics using randomization and sampling techniques. We submit that heuristics are in general strategies that map from available information of a problem instance to decisions in solution constructions/improvement. We show that it is important to utilize the information effectively in the randomization process. More importantly, the possibility of randomization around a heuristic spells out the demarcation between the roles of human and machines in complex optimization problems.     

Traffic analysis for multiparty videoconferencing in virtual path‐based ATM networks

With effective bandwidth concept encapsulating cell‐level behaviour, asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network design and analysis at the call‐level may be formulated in the framework of circuit‐switched loss networks. In this paper, we develop an analytical framework for a kind of multiparty videoconferencing in the VP‐based ATM network at call‐level. For this kind of conference, only the video of the current speaker is broadcast to other conferees. We first address several conference management issues in the VP‐based ATM network, including the bandwidth allocation strategies, routing rule, call admission policy and speaker change management. Next, we formulate a traffic model for the conferences. Since an exact analysis of such a multiparty conference network is mathematically intractable, an approximate analysis for such conferences in a fully connected VP network is performed. The key of our method is to make use of the reduced‐load approximation and open Jackson network model to derive the traffic loads from new conferences as well as that from the speaker change of the on‐going conferences. Our study shows that the proposed analysis can give accurate predictions of the blocking probabilities for the new conference calls as well as video freeze probabilities for the on‐going conferences. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Desorption electrospray ionization of explosives on surfaces: sensitivity and selectivity enhancement by reactive desorption electrospray ionization

Desorption electrospray ionization (DESI), an ambient mass spectrometry technique, is used for trace detection of the explosives trinitrohexahydro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX), octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine (HMX), 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT), Pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), and their plastic compositions (Composition C-4, Semtex-H, Detasheet) directly from a wide variety of surfaces (metal, plastic, paper, polymer) without sample preparation or pretreatment. Analysis of the explosives is performed under ambient conditions from virtually any surface in very short times (<5 s) including confirmatory tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) experiments, while retaining the sensitivity and specificity that mass spectrometry offers. Increased selectivity is obtained both by MS/MS and by performing additional experiments in which additives are included in the spray solvent. These reactive DESI experiments (reactions accompanying desorption) produce such ions as the chloride and trifluoroacetate adducts of RDX and HMX or the Meisenheimer complex of TNT. Desorption atmospheric pressure chemical ionization, a variant of DESI that uses gas-phase ions generated by atmospheric pressure corona discharges of toluene or other organic compounds, provides evidence for a heterogeneous-phase (gaseous ion/absorbed analyte) charge-transfer mechanism of DESI ionization in the case of explosives. Plastic explosives on surfaces were analyzed directly as fingerprints, without sample preparation, to test DESI as a possible method for in situ detection of explosives-contaminated surfaces. DESI also allowed detection of explosives in complex matrixes, including lubricants, household cleaners, vinegar, and diesel fuel. Absolute limits of detection for the neat explosives were subnanogram in all cases and subpicogram in the case of TNT. The DESI response was linear over 3 orders of magnitude for TNT. Quantification of RDX on paper gave a precision (RSD) of 2.3%. Pure water could be used as the spray solution for DESI, and it showed ionization efficiencies for RDX in the negative ion mode similar to that given by methanol/water. DESI represents a simple and rapid way to detect explosives in situ with high sensitivity and specificity and is especially useful when they are present in complex mixtures or in trace amounts on ordinary environmental surfaces.     

Discovery of a Flavonoid FM04 as a Potent Inhibitor to Reverse P-Glycoprotein-Mediated Drug Resistance in Xenografts and Improve Oral Bioavailability of Paclitaxel

Biotransformation of flavonoid dimer FD18 resulted in an active metabolite FM04. It was more druggable because of its improved physicochemical properties. FM04 (EC₅₀ = 83 nM) was 1.8-fold more potent than FD18 in reversing P-glycoprotein (P-gp)-mediated paclitaxel (PTX) resistance in vitro. Similar to FD18, FM04 chemosensitized LCC6MDR cells towards multiple anticancer drugs by inhibiting the transport activity of P-gp and restoring intracellular drug levels. It stimulated the P-gp ATPase by 3.3-fold at 100 μM. Different from FD18, FM04 itself was not a transport substrate of P-gp and presumably, it cannot work as a competitive inhibitor. In the human melanoma MDA435/LCC6MDR xenograft, the co-administration of FM04 (28 mg/kg, I.P.) with PTX (12 mg/kg, I.V.) directly modulated P-gp-mediated PTX resistance and caused a 56% (*, p < 0.05) reduction in tumor volume without toxicity or animal death. When FM04 was administered orally at 45 mg/kg as a dual inhibitor of P-gp/CYP2C8 or 3A4 enzymes in the intestine, it increased the intestinal absorption of PTX from 0.2% to 14% in mice and caused about 57- to 66-fold improvement of AUC as compared to a single oral dose of PTX. Oral co-administration of FM04 (45 mg/kg) with PTX (40, 60 or 70 mg/kg) suppressed the human melanoma MDA435/LCC6 tumor growth with at least a 73% (***, p < 0.001) reduction in tumor volume without serious toxicity. Therefore, FM04 can be developed into a novel combination chemotherapy to treat cancer by directly targeting the P-gp overexpressed tumors or potentiating the oral bioavailability of P-gp substrate drugs.     

Multicrack Detection on Semirigidly Connected Beams Utilizing Dynamic Data

The problem of crack detection has been studied by many researchers, and many methods of approaching the problem have been developed. To quantify the crack extent, most methods follow the model updating approach. This approach treats the crack location and extent as model parameters, which are then identified by minimizing the discrepancy between the modeled and the measured dynamic responses. Most methods following this approach focus on the detection of a single crack or multicracks in situations in which the number of cracks is known. The main objective of this paper is to address the crack detection problem in a general situation in which the number of cracks is not known in advance. The crack detection methodology proposed in this paper consists of two phases. In the first phase, different classes of models are employed to model the beam with different numbers of cracks, and the Bayesian model class selection method is then employed to identify the most plausible class of models based on the set of measured dynamic data in order to identify the number of cracks on the beam. In the second phase, the posterior (updated) probability density function of the crack locations and the corresponding extents is calculated using the Bayesian statistical framework. As a result, the uncertainties that may have been introduced by measurement noise and modeling error can be explicitly dealt with. The methodology proposed herein has been verified by and demonstrated through a comprehensive series of numerical case studies, in which noisy data were generated by a Bernoulli–Euler beam with semirigid connections. The results of these studies show that the proposed methodology can correctly identify the number of cracks even when the crack extent is small. The effects of measurement noise, modeling error, and the complexity of the class of identification model on the crack detection results have also been studied and are discussed in this paper.     

Sulfonated polyethersulfone by heterogeneous method and its membrane performances

Polyethersulfone was sulfonated by heterogeneous method with chlorosulfonic acid. Ion exchange capacity was controlled to 0.68 meq/g to reduce fouling. Sulfonation was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and ¹H‐nuclear magnetic resonance. Polyethersulfone and sulfonated polyethersulfone ultrafiltration membranes were prepared successively by the typical phase inversion method. Membrane performance of sulfonated polyethersulfone was compared with that of polyethersulfone. In the preparation of ultrafiltration membranes, the effect of the addition of dichloromethane and poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) in a casting solution was investigated on the membrane performance. It was observed that the addition of dichloromethane increased the solute rejection rate. By changing the ratio between polymer and poly(vinyl pyrrolidone), membrane performance could be controlled. Negatively charged sulfonated polyethersulfone could reduce fouling at higher or lower pH than isoelectric point of protein bovine serum albumin. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 74: 2046–2055, 1999