T c enhancement in superconductor-semiconductor arrays

Subsequent to our observation that the Tl- and Bi-based cuprate high-T _c superconductors are built of superconductor-semiconductor arrays (P. C. W. Fung and W. Y. Kwok,J. Superconduct., this issue), we investigate in this paper the possibility ofT _c enhancement arising from the effect of change of phonon spectrum and the effect of size quantization when one or more semiconductor blocks is attached to the basic superconductor in the unit cell.     

Dynamical synapses enhance neural information processing: gracefulness, accuracy, and mobility

Experimental data have revealed that neuronal connection efficacy exhibits two forms of short-term plasticity: short-term depression (STD) and short-term facilitation (STF). They have time constants residing between fast neural signaling and rapid learning and may serve as substrates for neural systems manipulating temporal information on relevant timescales. This study investigates the impact of STD and STF on the dynamics of continuous attractor neural networks and their potential roles in neural information processing. We find that STD endows the network with slow-decaying plateau behaviors: the network that is initially being stimulated to an active state decays to a silent state very slowly on the timescale of STD rather than on that of neuralsignaling. This provides a mechanism for neural systems to hold sensory memory easily and shut off persistent activities gracefully. With STF, we find that the network can hold a memory trace of external inputs in the facilitated neuronal interactions, which provides a way to stabilize the network response to noisy inputs, leading to improved accuracy in population decoding. Furthermore, we find that STD increases the mobility of the network states. The increased mobility enhances the tracking performance of the network in response to time-varying stimuli, leading to anticipative neural responses. In general, we find that STD and STP tend to have opposite effects on network dynamics and complementary computational advantages, suggesting that the brain may employ a strategy of weighting them differentially depending on the computational purpose.     

In vitro growth and drug sensitivity of tumor colony-forming units from human tumor xenografts

To investigate the feasibility of using tissue obtained from human tumor xenografts for in vitro screening of antineoplastic agents, we grew human tumor colony-forming units (CFU) in semisold agar from xenografts serially passaged in nude mice. Growth of human tumor CFU was accomplished from nine xenografts representing five different histological tumor types (ovarian carcinoma, adenocarcinoma of the colon, malignant melanoma, epidermoid carcinoma of the lung, and malignant astrocytoma). Cloning efficiency ranged from 0.04 to 0.1% and showed significant variability both between tumor types and between individual animals bearing the same type of xenograft. A high percentage of tumor CFU was in S phase [47 +/- 20% (S.D.)] as determined by the thymidine "suicide" technique. The number of tumor CFU observed increased linearly with increasing numbers of cells plated. In vitro drug sensitivity of the tumor CFU was assessed to Adriamycin, cis-platinum, and melphalan. The patterns of drug sensitivity were found to be reproducible and stable over a period of 9 months. Drug sensitivity curves to Adriamycin for five xenografts representing four tumor types showed complex patterns with plateau portions similar to those described for tumor CFU from primary tumors. The rank order of sensitivity of the tumors was compared to that of normal granulocyte-macrophage progenitors and, with the exception of the melanomas, was found to correlate well with clinical experience (order of sensitivity = colon less than ovary less than bone marrow). Growth of human tumor CFU from xenografts represents a reproducible and stable means for the study of the biology of tumor CFU and has potential applications as a means for screening new anticancer agents.     

设计与制造之间的界面优化

分辨率增强技术（RET）设计流程中聚集了各式各样的点工具和方法。当前对深亚波长可制造性（DFM）设计的要求迫使设计与制造行业必须建立十分密切的合作关系。同时也促使EDA行业提供一种平台，以促进这些行业间的密切交流。合理利用这一平台将会对产能和品质产生直接的影响。     

A study on information security management system evaluation—assets, threat and vulnerability

The security of information system is like a chain. Its strength is affected by the weakest knot. Since we can achieve 100% Information Security Management System (ISMS) security, we must cautiously fulfill the certification and accreditation of information security. In this paper, we analyzed, studied the evaluation knowledge and skills required for auditing the certification procedures for the three aspects of ISMS—asset, threat, and vulnerability.     

GENERALISED TRANSFER FUNCTIONS OF NEURAL NETWORKS

When artificial neural networks are used to model non-linear dynamical systems, the system structure which can be extremely useful for analysis and design, is buried within the network architecture. In this paper, explicit expressions for the frequency response or generalised transfer functions of both feedforward and recurrent neural networks are derived in terms of the network weights. The derivation of the algorithm is established on the basis of the Taylor series expansion of the activation functions used in a particular neural network. This leads to a representation which is equivalent to the non-linear recursive polynomial model and enables the derivation of the transfer functions to be based on the harmonic expansion method. By mapping the neural network into the frequency domain information about the structure of the underlying non-linear system can be recovered. Numerical examples are included to demonstrate the application of the new algorithm. These examples show that the frequency response functions appear to be highly sensitive to the network topology and training, and that the time domain properties fail to reveal deficiencies in the trained network structure.     

Propagation dynamics of ultra-short high-power laser pulses in air: supercontinuum generation and transverse ring formation

Numerical and semi-analytical results of the propagation of high-power ultra-short near IR laser pulses propagating in ionizing air are presented.     

Thin Film Deposition of Semiconducting Ni-Co Oxide Spinel with Adequate Electrical and Optical Properties for Energy Application

Nickel-cobalt oxide with spinel structure was successfully fabricated using a wet chemical route followed by calcinations at 300 °C. In nickel-cobalt spinel oxide, Ni²⁺ ions occupy the octahedral sites and Co³⁺ ions are distributed over both octahedral and tetrahedral sites. Very interestingly, nickel-cobalt spinel oxide does not only show a p-type semi-conducting behavior material but also exhibits desired transparency in infrared wavelengths. Electrical and optical properties of the deposited films were investigated as a function of different processing conditions. The sputtering target is fabricated by homogeneously mixing oxide powders and followed by sintering at 1,500 °C. The nickel-cobalt oxide film showed a resistivity as low as 10^?2 Ω-cm by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering in a pure oxygen atmosphere. The sputter-deposited nickel-cobalt oxide films also showed more than 70% transmittance in the infrared range.