Buried rib passive waveguide Y junctions with sharp vertex on InP

A technique is presented for fabricating intersecting waveguides with a sharp junction vertex. This technique was demonstrated by fabricating buried rib waveguide Y branches on InP with a junction vertex width of about 1/8 mu m. These Y branches had lower loss than the regular blunt Y branches but suffered from a dissimilar splitting coefficient between the two arms. This technique may also be useful for fabricating other waveguide elements such as crossed waveguides, zero gap directional couplers, and optical switches. A comparison with theoretical calculations is also given.<>     

碳纳米管的表面修饰及其在聚合物中的应用

介绍了碳纳米管的有机共价键化和有机非共价键化修饰,以及碳纳米管在聚合物中应用的情况。通过碳纳米管表面修饰技术制备可溶性碳纳米管,可以解决碳纳米管的纯化和分散问题：碳纳米管具有特殊的结构,独特的电学、力学性能和化学稳定性,在场发射器件、电子晶体管、储氢、太阳能利用、高效催化剂等方面具有诱人的应用前景。     

Landmark-based heuristic online contingent planning

In contingent planning problems, agents have partial information about their state and use sensing actions to learn the value of some variables. When sensing and actuation are separated, plans for such problems can often be viewed as a tree of sensing actions, separated by conformant plans consisting of non-sensing actions that enable the execution of the next sensing action. We propose a heuristic, online method for contingent planning which focuses on identifying the next useful sensing action. We select the next sensing action based on a landmark heuristic, adapted from classical planning. We discuss landmarks for plan trees, providing several alternative definitions and discussing their merits. The key part of our planner is the novel landmarks-based heuristic, together with a projection method that uses classical planning to solve the intermediate conformant planning problems. The resulting heuristic contingent planner solves many more problems than state-of-the-art, translation-based online contingent planners, and in most cases, much faster, up to 3 times faster on simple problems, and 200 times faster on non-simple domains.     

The perception of pedestrians from the perspective of elderly experienced and experienced drivers

We examined hazard perception (HP) abilities among elderly experienced and experienced drivers, with regard to the presence of pedestrians in residential areas. Two evaluation methods were used: (a) observation of traffic scene videos and pressing a button when a hazardous situation was identified, and (b) driving in a driving simulator. The results of the video observation method showed that elderly drivers had a longer response time for hazard detection. In addition, four of the eight pedestrian-related events were difficult for elderly drivers to perceive when compared to experienced drivers. Elderly drivers, shown to have limited useful field of view, may also be limited in their ability to detect hazards, particularly when located away from the center of the screen. Results from the simulator drive showed that elderly drivers drove about 20% slower than experienced drivers, possibly being aware of their deficiencies in detecting hazards and slower responses. Authorities should be aware of these limitations and increase elderly drivers' awareness to pedestrians by posting traffic signs or dedicated lane marks that inform them of potential upcoming hazards.     

Analysis of Phase Distribution in Thin Surface Layers Comparable to the Penetration Depth of X-Rays

After hydrogen concentration, gradients in austenitic-type stainless steels, formed during electrochemical charging and followed by hydrogen loss during aging at room temperature, surface stresses, and martensitic phases ????-bcc and ??-hcp, developed. Phase quantitative X-ray surface analysis of distributions of martensitic phases in a thin layer, comparable to the penetration depth of X-rays, based on diffraction data taken for various diffraction reflections (2??, Bragg??s angles) and with various radiations (??-wavelengths) was applied for various degrees of the type steel in the surface layers. An examination of the relationships between ??-phase transitions in a number of stainless steels and their ?? stability revealed that the stability of the ?? phase increased (S stability factor changed from 26.5 in AISI 321 to 44 in AISI 310), the amount of ????-martensites (from 25?pct in AISI 347 to 0?pct in AISI 310) decreased, and ??-martensites (from 48?pct in AISI 310 to 77?pct in AISI 321) increased, while the depth (from 6.2???m in AISI 321 to 3???m in AISI 310) of the martensitic phases decreased. Deformation and fracture experiments were carried out at room temperature in a high-resolution transmission electron microscope with single-axis tilt tensile stage and environmental cell. The principal effect of hydrogen was to decrease the stress required for dislocation motion, for phase transformation of the austenite, and for crack propagation. Formation of ??- and ????-martensite was noted along the fracture surfaces and in front of the crack tip. The cracks propagated through the ??-martensite plates, which formed along the active slip planes, while ???? phase was always found in the high stress regions.     

Collaborative privacy preserving multi-agent planning

In many cases several entities, such as commercial companies, need to work together towards the achievement of joint goals, while hiding certain private information. To collaborate effectively, some sort of plan is needed to coordinate the different entities. We address the problem of automatically generating such a coordination plan while preserving the agents’ privacy. Maintaining privacy is challenging when planning for multiple agents, especially when tight collaboration is needed and a global high-level view of the plan is required. In this work we present the Greedy Privacy-Preserving Planner (GPPP), a privacy preserving planning algorithm in which the agents collaboratively generate an abstract and approximate global coordination plan and then individually extend the global plan to executable plans. To guide GPPP, we propose two domain independent privacy preserving heuristics based on landmarks and pattern databases, which are classical heuristics for single agent search. These heuristics, called privacy-preserving landmarks and privacy preserving PDBs, are agnostic to the planning algorithm and can be used by other privacy-preserving planning algorithms. Empirically, we demonstrate on benchmark domains the benefits of using these heuristics and the advantage of GPPP over existing privacy preserving planners for the multi-agent STRIPS formalism.     

Functionalization at the double bond region of jojoba oil. 6. Production of aminesvia azides

The apolar and hydrophobic jojoba molecule was made more hydrophilic by the incorporation of primary amino groupsvia the introduction and subsequent reduction of azido groups. The azides were obtained by the substitution of bromine or a mesylate group introduced into the jojoba oil molecule; by opening of the epoxide ring in epoxy jojoba; or by the addition of bromoazide to the double bonds of jojoba.     

Computational and Biochemical Design of a Nanopore Cleavable by a Cancer‐Secreted Enzyme

Many proteinaceous macromolecules selectively transport substrates across lipid bilayers and effectively serve as gated nanopores. Here, we engineered cleavage‐site motifs for human matrix metalloprotease 7 (MMP‐7) into the extracellular and pore‐constricting loops of OprD, a bacterial substrate‐specific transmembrane channel. Concurrent removal of two extracellular loops allowed MMP‐7 to access and hydrolyze a cleavage‐site motif engineered within the pore's major constricting loop, in both membrane‐incorporated and detergent‐solubilized OprDs. Import of antibiotics by the engineered OprDs into living bacteria pointed to their proper folding and integration in biological membranes. Purified engineered OprDs were also found to be properly folded in detergent. Hence, this study demonstrates the design of nanopores with a constriction cleavable by tumor‐secreted enzymes (like MMP‐7) for their potential incorporation in lipid‐based nanoparticles to accelerate drug release at the tumor site.     

Trapping Efficiency and Sex Ratio of Maladera matrida Beetles in Yellow and Black Traps

In field experiments, which started several years ago to investigate the means of chemical communication of the Maladera matrida beetle, we found that the ratio of males to females attracted to the bait (live females with food) was 3 : 2–5 : 4 60 : 40–55 : 45). These findings suggested that an aggregation pheromone is involved in the chemical communication, but the constant small preference for attracted males raised the question whether the active compound(s) is indeed an aggregation pheromone or whether it is a sex pheromone released by the female to attract the male. Since the traps used in our field studies were made of yellow plastic, we had to consider the possibility that the yellow color could have influenced the trapping of the flying beetles and biased the findings for the behavior and mode of attraction toward the source of the chemical communication. To clarify this point, we set out, in this study, to conduct field experiments in which we compared the standard yellow traps with black traps. We found that the bright yellow color did indeed affect the results for chemical communication: The total catch in the yellow traps was double that in black traps, and the male–female ratio in the black traps increased to 4 : 1(80 : 20). This result hints that a sex pheromone, and probably not an aggregation pheromone, as previously thought, is involved in the chemical communication of the M. maladera beetle.     

Trimerization ofEarias insulana sex pheromone, (E,E)-10,12-Hexadecadienal,A phenomenon affecting trapping efficiency

The sex pheromone ofEarias insulana, (E,E)-10,12-hexadecadienal, may trimerize extensively to form a crystalline trioxane derivative. The structure of the trimer was deduced from its CI-MS and NMR spectra. Capillary GC analysis resulted in the thermal decomposition of the trimer to the monomer. This process could be studied on a 2-m packed column under specific conditions. A convenient separation between the pheromone and its trimer was achieved by TLC. The trimer was inactive in the field, and it has a harmful effect on the performance of the polyethylene dispenser. Material which contains large amounts of the trimer is unsuitable for field use, even if applied at high dosage. The pheromone should be analyzed by NMR or TLC in addition to GC in order to detect the presence of its trimer. The trimerization process is catalyzed by acid which should therefore be completely eliminated from the storing vessels.Boisduval, Lepidoptera: Noctuidae.Contribution from the Agricultural Research Organization (ARO), No. 675-E, 1983 series.