A fault-tolerant object service in the OMG's object management architecture

The object management architecture (OMA) has been recognized as a de facto standard in the development of object services in a distributed computing environment. In a distributed system, the provision for failure-recovery is always a vital design issue. However, the fault-tolerant service has not been extensively considered in the current OMA framework, despite the fact that an increasing number of useful common services and common facilities have been adopted in OMA. In this paper, we propose a fault-tolerance developing environment, called Phoinix, which is compatible to the OMA framework. In Phoinix, object services can be developed with embedded fault-tolerance capability to tolerate both hardware and software failures. The fault-tolerance capability in Phoinix is classified into two levels: restart, and rollback-recovery; where the fault-tolerance capability enhances as the level increases. Currently, Phoinix is ported on Orbix 2.0 and on SunOS 4.2. In this paper, the design and implementation of Phoinix is presented and its performance is evaluated.     

Computing planar swept polygons under translation

A translational sweep is the translating of a polygon, called the generatrix G, around another polygon, called the directrix D, under two conditions: (1) G is always in contact with D; and (2) the interiors of G and D do not intersect. Three classes of translational sweep are studied, including the case in which both G and D are convex; the case in which G is convex, D monotone; and the case in which both are monotone. Efficient algorithms for computing the trajectory and the swept area as well as geometric and computational properties are presented for each class. A notion called the inverse generatrix, which reveals a duality between the trajectory and the swept polygon, is introduced to reduce complexity.     

R~n上的r-次微分与r-凸性

提出了Ｒｎ上的ｒ－次微分与ｒ－凸性的概念，利用ｒ－次微分，给出了许多局部极小（极大）不能满足的全局极小（极大）的一个新的必要条件，利用ｒ－凸性给出了全局极小的充分条件。ｒ－凸函数是较凸函数更大的一类凸函数，有些ｒ－凸出数是处处不连续的，且ｒ－凸函数保持凸函数一些优良特性，ｒ－凸函数的局部极小总是全局极小。     

Novel error concealment method with adaptive prediction to the abrupt and gradual scene changes

In this paper, the impact of scene change on the conventional error concealment method is addressed and a novel error concealment method is proposed to improve the insufficiency of the conventional temporal error concealment algorithm due to the occurrence of scene change. Combining with the low complexity scene change detection algorithm using macroblock type information, the corrupt blocks resulting from bit errors are concealed either temporally or spatially depending on whether or not an abrupt scene change is found. In the case of gradual scene change, a novel error concealment method of interpolation and extrapolation is proposed to utilize the linear property of gradual scene change sequence, and effectively reduce the concealment error in comparison with the conventional algorithm. A great improvement of about 3 to 5 dB PSNR on average and 6 to 8 dB in some cases is obtained with very little memory and computation overhead.     

Designing learning objects that afford learners the experience of important variations in Chinese characters

Effective teaching should focus the attention of learners to its essential aspects. It follows that instructional software can be designed in such a way that allows learners to experience the important variations in the critical aspects of the content to be learned. This paper reports on the experience of designing such special kinds of instructional learning objects for the learning of Chinese characters. The design of these learning objects takes into consideration not only what Chinese characters are all about but also how learners commonly make errors while they learn to write the characters. Out of the analysis of these learners' errors, variations in the structural features of Chinese characters were pulled out and embodied in the design of the learning objects. Learners tinkering with the learning objects can thus implicitly develop a sense of the structural features or regularity of Chinese characters, which most importantly should prepare the learners to learn more new characters in the future. The main proposal of this paper is the notion of this variation‐affording instructional software that allows learners to attend to the essential aspects of what is to be learned. Furthermore, the idea of the learning object also differs from other instructional software in its small, self‐contained and reusable nature, such that teachers can flexibly embed the learning objects into their own teaching materials.     

Optimal common-mode voltage reduction PWM technique for inverter control with consideration of the dead-time effects-part II: applications to IM drives with diode front end

The main theme of this paper is to demonstrate the applications of the newly developed common-mode voltage reduction pulsewidth-modulation (PWM) technique, which restricts the common-mode voltage to one-third of DC-link voltage, to vector-controlled induction motor drives. As compared to previous common-mode voltage reduction techniques, the presented technique can be applied to the inverter with diode front end and has no adverse effect on the linear modulation range. Therefore, vector-controlled drives using the developed technique for inverter control have a wide speed range. Moreover, the effects of the common-mode voltage reduction PWM technique on speed response for vector-controlled induction motor drives will be fully investigated in this paper. It will be demonstrated by intensive experimental results that speed performance does not deteriorate significantly within the rated speed range.     

On the Computational Complexity of Consumer Decision Rules

A consumer entering a new bookstore can face more than 250,000alternatives. The efficiency of compensatory and noncompensatory decisionrulesfor finding a preferred item depends on the efficiency of their associatedinformation operators. At best, item-by-item information operators lead tolinear computational complexity; set information operators, on the other hand,can lead to constant complexity. We perform an experiment demonstrating thatsubjects are approximately rational in selecting between sublinear and linearrules. Many markets are organized by attributes that enable consumers toemploya set-selection-by-aspect rule using set information operations. In cyberspacedecision rules are encoded as decision aids.     

基于DSP的锅炉火焰温度场测量及燃烧诊断系统

针对电站锅炉火焰监视、温度场测量和燃烧诊断中存在的问题，提出了一种以DSP为核心的嵌入式图像火焰监测系统，在对彩色图像法测量温度场的原理论述的基础上，对图像采集和处理各部分的电路和系统软件进行了分析和说明。通过优化设计，使系统的数据处理能力和实时性得到大幅的提升。经过200MW机组的试验表明，系统能在1帧时间内完成一幅图像的处理与特征量的提取，在1s内完成锅炉燃烧状况的诊断，火焰监测和燃烧诊断实时性得到了保证。温度场测量最大偏差不会超过50℃，相对误差小于5%，能满足系统对测量精度的要求。     

Chidamide plus Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor Remodel the Tumor Immune Microenvironment and Reduce Tumor Progression When Combined with Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor in Naïve and Anti-PD-1 Resistant CT26-Bearing Mice

Combined inhibition of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) and the programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) pathways has shown efficacy in multiple cancers; however, the clinical outcomes show limited benefits and the unmet clinical needs still remain and require improvement in efficacy. Using murine colon carcinoma (CT26) allograft models, we examined the efficacy and elucidated novel tumor microenvironment (TME) remodeling mechanisms underlying the combination of chidamide (a benzamide-based class l histone deacetylase inhibitor; brand name in Taiwan, Kepida^®) with VEGF receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKIs; cabozantinib/regorafenib, etc.) and immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs; anti-PD-1/anti-PD-L1/anti-CTLA-4 antibodies). The TME was assessed using flow cytometry and RNA-sequencing to determine the novel mechanisms and their correlation with therapeutic effects in mice with significant treatment response. Compared with ICI alone or cabozantinib/regorafenib + ICI, combination of chidamide + cabozantinib/regorafenib + ICI increased the tumor response and survival benefits. In particular, treatment of CT26-bearing mice with chidamide + regorafenib + anti-PD-1 antibody showed a better objective response rate (ORR) and overall survival (OS). Similar results were observed in anti-PD-1 treatment-resistant mice. After treatment with this optimal combination, in the TME, RNA-sequencing revealed that downregulated mRNAs were correlated with leukocyte migration, cell chemotaxis, and macrophage gene sets, and flow cytometry analysis showed that the cell numbers of myeloid-derived polymorphonuclear suppressor cells and tumor-associated macrophages were decreased. Accordingly, chidamide + regorafenib + anti-PD-1 antibody combination therapy could trigger a novel TME remodeling mechanism by attenuating immunosuppressive cells, and restoring T-cell activation to enhance ORR and OS. Our studies also showed that the addition of Chidamide to the regorafenib + anti-PD-1 Ab combination could induce a durable tumor-specific response by attenuating immune suppression in the TME. In addition, this result suggests that TME remodeling, mediated by epigenetic immunomodulator combined with TKI and ICI, would be more advantageous for achieving a high objective response rate, when compared to TKI plus ICI or ICI alone, and maintaining long-lasting antitumor activity.