Rotation Invariant Parallel Signal Processing Using a Diffractive Phase Element for Image Compression

We propose a new rotation invariant correlator using dimensionality reduction. A diffractive phase element is used to focus image data into a line which serves as input for a conventional correlator. The diffractive element sums information over each radius of the scene image and projects the result onto one point of a line located at a certain distance behind the image. The method is flexible, to a large extent, and might include parallel pattern recognition and classification as well as further geometrical invariance. Although the new technique is inspired from circular harmonic decomposition, it does not suffer from energy loss. A theoretical analysis, as well as examples, are given.

Management of Celestial Systems under Spatial Grasp Model

Many governmental agencies and private companies of different countries are now rushing into space around Earth in hope to provide smart communication, industrial, security, and defense solutions. This often involves massive launches of cheap small satellites which are also contributing to the growth of space debris. The current paper discusses how the developed high-level system philosophy and model can effectively organize distributed space-based systems on different stages of their development and growth. The briefed Spatial Grasp Technology, based on parallel pattern-matching of distributed environments with high-level recursive mobile code, can effectively provide any networking protocols and important applications of large satellite constellations, especially those on Low Earth Orbits. The paper contains examples of technology-based solutions for establishing basic communications between satellites, starting from their initial, often chaotic, launches and distributing and collecting data in the growing constellations with even unstable and rapidly changing connections between satellites. It describes how to organize and register networking topologies in case of predictable distances between satellites, and how the fixed networking structures can help in solving complex problems. The latter including those related to the new Space Development Agency multiple-satellite defense-oriented architecture and allowing for effective integration of its continuous earth custody observation and cooperative missile tracking and elimination layers, based on self-spreading mobile intelligence. Earlier versions of the technology, described in many papers, six books including, were prototyped and used in different countries, with the current one quickly implementable too, even in university-based environments.

Automated Parallel Pattern Search Optimisation of Microfluidic Geometry for Extracellular Vesicle Liquid Biopsies

Microfluidic liquid biopsies using affinity-based capture of extracellular vesicles (EVs) have demonstrated great potential for providing rapid disease diagnosis and monitoring. However, little effort has been devoted to optimising the geometry of the microfluidic channels for maximum EV capture due to the inherent challenges of physically testing many geometric designs. To address this, we developed an automated parallel pattern search (PPS) optimiser by combining a Python optimiser, COMSOL Multiphysics, and high performance computing. This unique approach was applied to a triangular micropillar array geometry by parameterising repeating unit cells, making several assumptions, and optimising for maximum particle capture efficiency. We successfully optimised the triangular pillar arrays and surprisingly found that simply maximising the total number of pillars and effective surface area did not result in maximum EV capture, as devices with slightly larger pillars and more spacing between pillars allowed contact with slower moving EVs that followed the pillar contours more closely. We then experimentally validated this finding using bioreactor-produced EVs in the best and worst channel designs that were functionalised with an antibody against CD63. Captured EVs were quantified using a fluorescent plate reader, followed by an established elution method and nanoparticle tracking analysis. These results demonstrate the power of automated microfluidic geometry optimisations for EV liquid biopsies and will support further development of this rapidly growing field.

8 Å structure of the cytoplasmic ring of the Xenopus laevis nuclear pore complex solved by cryo-EM and AI

As one of the largest protein complexes in eukaryotes, the nuclear pore complex (NPC) forms a conduit regulating nucleocytoplasmic transport. Here, we determined 8 Å resolution cryo-electron microscopic (cryo-EM) structure of the cytoplasmic ring (CR) from the Xenopus laevis NPC. With the aid of AlphaFold2, we managed to build a most comprehensive and accurate pseudoatomic model of the CR to date, including the Y complexes and flanking components of Nup358, Nup214 complexes, Nup205 and Nup93. Comparing with previously reported CR model, the Y complex structure in our model exhibits much tighter interactions in the hub region mediated by α-solenoid domain in Nup160 C-terminus. Five copies of Nup358 are identified in each CR subunit to provide rich interactions with other Nups in stem regions of Y complexes. Two copies of Nup214 complexes lay in a parallel pattern and attach to the short arm region of Y complexes towards the central channel of NPC. Besides, the structural details of two copies of Nup205 on the side of the short arm region and one copy of Nup93 on the stem region of Y complexes in each CR subunit are also revealed. These in-depth novel structural features represent a great advance in understanding the assembly of NPCs.

Colour Vision in Stomatopod Crustaceans: more questions than answers

Stomatopod crustaceans, or mantis shrimps, are known for their extensive range of spectral sensitivities but relatively poor spectral discrimination. Instead of the colour-opponent mechanism of other colour vision systems, the 12 narrow-band colour channels they possess may underlie a different method of colour processing. We investigated one hypothesis, in which the photoreceptors are proposed to act as individual wave-band detectors, interpreting colour as a parallel pattern of photoreceptor activation, rather than a ratiometric comparison of individual signals. This different form of colour detection has been used to explain previous behavioural tests in which low saturation blue was not discriminated from grey potentially because of similar activation patterns. Results here, however, indicate that the stomatopod, Haptosquilla trispinosa was able to easily distinguish several colours, including blue of both high and low saturation, from greys. The animals did show a decrease in performance over time in an artificially lit environment, indicating plasticity in colour discrimination ability. This rapid plasticity, most likely the result of a change in opsin (visual pigment) expression, has now been noted in several animal lineages (both invertebrate and vertebrate) and is a factor we suggest needing care and potential re-examination in any colour-based behavioural tests. As for stomatopods, it remains unclear why they achieve poor colour discrimination using the most comprehensive set of spectral sensitivities in the animal kingdom and also what form of colour processing they may utilise.

Analysis of the Thematic Progression Patterns in English News Discourse

The theory of theme and rheme and the patterns of thematic progression are not only two important parts of the systemic functional grammar but also an important means of discourse analysis. With thematic structure theory and patterns of thematic progression as the theoretical support, this research makes a combination of theoretical research and discourse analysis. This paper aims to find out the application and characteristics of the theme and rheme structure in English news discourse. After choosing the data from BBC (website:https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-51403795) reporting on 7th February 2020 with the title of Li Wenliang: Coronavirus Kills Chinese Whistleblower Doctor and giving a detailed analysis by empirical study. Through the analysis of the relationship between theme and rheme in the full text, we find that this text does not only apply a certain thematic progression pattern, but also applies more than one thematic progression pattern. Therefore, we come to the conclusion that thematic progression does exist in this news discourse and shows obvious characteristics and distribution. And also, parallel pattern and continuation pattern are frequently presented in this news discourse.

North Sea Horizontal Well with Multi-Zone Completion Sets World Record Using Acid Jetting Technology

A new development well in the Halfdan Field, well HBB-05, was selected as a candidate for the first Multilateral Completion Stimulation Technology (MCST) installation in the Danish sector of the North Sea. Placed in a thinner part of the Ekofisk formation it was important that the well didn't communicate with the underlying Tor formation, which would reduce the recovery from both reservoirs. An alternative completion was sought that would enhance reservoir contact, while protecting reserves. Halfdan is a laterally extensive field and comprises a high porosity (25% - 35%), low permeability (0.5 mD – 5 mD) chalk reservoir of Maastrichtian (Upper Cretaceous) and Danian (0.1-1mD) (Lower Paleocene) age. The main field, located within the Maastrichtian Tor formation, is developed with long horizontal wells of 10,000 ft - 15,000 ft reservoir sections drilled in a parallel pattern of alternating oil production and water injection wells spaced 600 ft apart. A multizone MCST was placed in a thin, layered chalk aiming for an increased effective well bore radius. The well consisted of a 4-½" liner with a new record number of subs placed in one well; 56 MCST subs. Each sub contained four needles at 90 degrees phasing capable of penetrating up to 40 ft. into the reservoir. The subs were placed in the distal 3,000ft horizontal section, beyond the reach of coiled tubing. The liner was installed on a work string starting at 16,820 ft. First time usage of MCST offshore Denmark creates a potential game changer for carbonate reservoir productivity enhancement. Production improvement over conventional stimulation methods where the following challenges may be addressed: –Thin, layered chalk–Need for increased wellbore radius–Extended reach reservoir sections–Beyond the reach of coiled tubing

Online and transparent self-adaptation of stream parallel patterns

Several real-world parallel applications are becoming more dynamic and long-running, demanding online (at run-time) adaptations. Stream processing is a representative scenario that computes data items arriving in real-time and where parallel executions are necessary. However, it is challenging for humans to monitor and manually self-optimize complex and long-running parallel executions continuously. Moreover, although high-level and structured parallel programming aims to facilitate parallelism, several issues still need to be addressed for improving the existing abstractions. In this paper, we extend self-adaptiveness for supporting autonomous and online changes of the parallel pattern compositions. Online self-adaptation is achieved with an online profiler that characterizes the applications, which is combined with a new self-adaptive strategy and a model for smooth transitions on reconfigurations. The solution provides a new abstraction layer that enables application programmers to define non-functional requirements instead of hand-tuning complex configurations. Hence, we contribute with additional abstractions and flexible self-adaptation for responsiveness at run-time. The proposed solution is evaluated with applications having different processing characteristics, workloads, and configurations. The results show that it is possible to provide additional abstractions, flexibility, and responsiveness while achieving performance comparable to the best static configuration executions.