Corneal collagen cross-linking in patients with keratoconus from the Dresden protocol to customized solutions:theoretical basis

Keratoconus is an ectatic condition characterized by gradual corneal thinning,corneal protrusion,progressive irregular astigmatism,corneal fibrosis,and visual impairment.The therapeutic options regarding improvement of visual function include glasses or soft contact lenses correction for initial stages,gas-permeable rigid contact lenses,scleral lenses,implantation of intrastromal corneal ring or corneal transplants for most advanced stages.In keratoconus cases showing disease progression corneal collagen crosslinking(CXL)has been proven to be an effective,minimally invasive and safe procedure.CXL consists of a photochemical reaction of corneal collagen by riboflavin stimulation with ultraviolet A radiation,resulting in stromal crosslinks formation.The aim of this review is to carry out an examination of CXL methods based on theoretical basis and mathematical models,from the original Dresden protocol to the most recent developments in the technique,reporting the changes proposed in the last 15y and examining the advantages and disadvantages of the various treatment protocols.Finally,the limits of non-standardized methods and the perspectives offered by a customization of the treatment are highlighted.

SHEL:a semantically enhanced hardware-friendly entity linking method

With the help of pre-trained language models,the accuracy of the entity linking task has made great strides in recent years.However,most models with excellent performance require fine-tuning on a large amount of training data using large pre-trained language models,which is a hardware threshold to accomplish this task.Some researchers have achieved competitive results with less training data through ingenious methods,such as utilizing information provided by the named entity recognition model.This paper presents a novel semantic-enhancement-based entity linking approach,named semantically enhanced hardware-friendly entity linking(SHEL),which is designed to be hardware friendly and efficient while maintaining good performance.Specifically,SHEL's semantic enhancement approach consists of three aspects:(1)semantic compression of entity descriptions using a text summarization model;(2)maximizing the capture of mention contexts using asymmetric heuristics;(3)calculating a fixed size mention representation through pooling operations.These series of semantic enhancement methods effectively improve the model's ability to capture semantic information while taking into account the hardware constraints,and significantly improve the model's convergence speed by more than 50%compared with the strong baseline model proposed in this paper.In terms of performance,SHEL is comparable to the previous method,with superior performance on six well-established datasets,even though SHEL is trained using a smaller pre-trained language model as the encoder.

用无需选取参数的Unit-linking PCNN进行自动图像分割

脉冲耦合神经网络(PCNN—Pulse Coupled Neural Network)是一种有生物学依据的人工神经网络,它可有效地用于图像分割。基于PCNN的图像分割效果取决于PCNN中各参数的选择。然而,图像分割时,各种不同的图像对应的PCNN参数是不同的,而PCNN参数的选择是困难的。本文提出了一种基于Unit-linking PCNN的图像分割新方法,解决了PCNN图像分割参数选择的难题。用本文提出的新方法可有效地自动分割各种图像,而无需考虑PCNN参数的选择,这对于PCNN的理论研究和实际应用有重要的意义。

基于Unit-Linking PCNN和图像熵的图像分割新方法

基于单位链接脉冲耦合神经网络(Unit-Linking PCNN)模型,在图像方差准则基础上将最大香农熵准则,最小交叉熵准则相结合,再组合图像分块策略与图像加权预处理策略,提出了不同准则和策略组合的8种图像分割方案。分析了各种准则和策略的优势和不足,比较了各种分割方案条件下的图像分割效果,部分方案的分割结果体现了图像的更多的细节。与已有文献结果比较,具有使用神经元模型参数少的特点,与PCNN模型相比,该模型参数对图像分割结果的影响较不敏感。计算机仿真结果表明,该方法具有较好的图像分割效果和实验仿真速度性能,具有较强适用性。

Unit-Linking PCNN和图像熵的彩色图像分割与边缘检测

在RGB空间中,将最大香农熵准则和最小交叉熵准则两种评价准则与大概率合并和小概率合并两种合并策略相结合,提出基于Unit-Linking PCNN的四种彩色图像分割方案,并在各分量分割结果基础上利用Unit-Linking PCNN实施边缘检测,合并得到彩色图像的边缘检测结果。分析了各评价准则和合并策略的优劣,比较了各分割方案条件下的图像分割和边缘检测效果。与HSV空间中得到的相关结果进行分析比较,该文分割和边缘检测结果体现了图像的更多的细节,说明了在RGB空间中进行彩色图像分割和边缘检测的合理性。与相关文献结果相比,该方法的模型参数对图像分割结果的影响较不敏感。计算机仿真结果表明,该方法具有较好的彩色图像分割和边缘检测效果,具有较强适用性。

A Brief Analysis of the Self-correction Model——from the View of Linking Theory

Based on the theory of the post method pedagogy and the teaching practice，this paper proposes a new teaching model，the self-correction model，and explains it from the point of view of linking theory.

Unit-Linking PCNN中的彩色图像边缘检测

PCNN模型具有相似群神经元同步发放脉冲的特性,适合于图像分割。对彩色图像的亮度分量进行对数变换,使其更符合人眼的视觉特性;在PCNN进行彩色图像R、G、B三分量分割的过程中,利用遗传算法进行神经元关键参数的选择,利用偏态指标进行迭代控制;在Unit-Linking PCNN模型中实现R、G、B三分量分割图的边缘检测,利用加权合并策略得到最终的边缘检测结果。仿真结果表明,该方法得到的结果体现了图像中更多的轮廓细节,具有很好的自适应性。

Modeling online social networks based on preferential linking

We study the phenomena of preferential linking in a large-scale evolving online social network and find that the linear preference holds for preferential creation, preferential acceptance, and preferential attachment. Based on the linear preference, we propose an analyzable model, which illustrates the mechanism of network growth and reproduces the process of network evolution. Our simulations demonstrate that the degree distribution of the network produced by the model is in good agreement with that of the real network. This work provides a possible bridge between the micro=mechanisms of network growth and the macrostructures of online social networks.

电动汽车电控液压制动系统CarSim/Simulink联合仿真研究

针对某款国产电动汽车的电控液压制动系统,文章基于滑移率的比例-积分-微分(PID)控制提出了防抱死制动系统(ABS)模型,以改善车辆制动性能,提高在对开路面上的制动有效性和安全性。首先,使用Simulink软件建立液压电控制动系统的动力学模型;然后,基于滑移率设计PID控制器,并通过1/4车辆模型验证其有效性;最后,利用S函数将ABS控制器的Simulink模型输入CarSim平台中,开展CarSim/Simulink双平台联合控制仿真。结果表明,基于滑移率的PID控制的ABS对比无ABS的车辆,制动性能更加优越,在对开路面上制动稳定性更加明显。

一种MAKLINK图多节点链路建模的路径规划研究

针对传统MAKLINK图规划路径线路改变时,其最优化路径易与环境约束条件冲突的问题,提出了在MAKLINK图中各链路上增加节点数目的方法,以提高系统建模的适应性和鲁棒性。设计的多节点链路通过dijkstra算法得到更为理想的次优化路径,由蚁群算法进行迭代计算获得最优化路径,实现了在保证路径适应度的前提下,提高优化路径对环境约束条件的适应性。实验结果表明,与基本MAKLINK图路径规划算法相比,多节点链路的建模路径规划算法可有效提高次优路径的建模精度,最优路径的适应度值较单节点链路减小了1.43%,具有一定的建模优势。

Accelerated versus standard corneal cross linking in the treatment of ectasia post refractive surgery and penetrating keratoplasty: a medium term randomized trial

AIM: To compare the clinical outcomes of the standard corneal cross linking(CXL) and the accelerated CXL in patients with progressive corneal ectasia post refractive surgery and penetrating keratoplasty.METHODS: Totally 120 eyes of 83 patients scheduled to receive either standard CXL(3 m W/cm^2 for a period of 30 min) or accelerated CXL(18 m W/cm2 for a period of 5 min). The main outcomes for comparison were the change in: maximum-K reading(K-max), manifest refractive spherical equivalent(SE), central corneal thickness(CCT), and the best corrected distance visual acuity(CDVA).RESULTS: One hundred and eleven eyes completed the study. The main outcome measurement was the K-max reading. Both group showed significant improvement in the value postoperatively at 6 and 12 mo. The mean change in the standard group was 1.21±0.11 D and in the accelerated group was 0.90±0.05 D at the end of 12 mo postoperatively, with no statistically significant difference between the 2 groups. Similarly, CDVA improved significantly from their preoperative value in the standard group by 2.98±0.11 letters, and in the accelerated group by 2.20±0.06 letters, with no statistically significant difference between the two groups. Both of the SE, and CCT showed no statistically significant difference at the end of follow up period in each group.CONCLUSION: Both standard CXL and accelerated CXL are safe and effective treatment in halting ectasia after corneal refractive surgery. The accelerated CXL results are comparable to the standard CXL with short time exposure of the cornea to ultraviolet irradiation, leading to reduced operation time, reduced operative ocular discomfort, and corneal haze.

Linking China's emissions trading pilot schemes

All seven emissions trading pilots in China operate independently.One challenge facing most of them is the low inclusion thresholds for enterprises and the few total covered emissions,which negatively influences the effects of the emissions trading systems(ETSs).Some pilot sites,such as Guangdong,Hubei,Tianjin and Beijing,have indicated their willingness to link their schemes with others.ETS linking could expand scheme coverages and therefore help to reduce the overall costs of achieving the linked schemes' emissions control targets.Linking could also help to address the issues of carbon leakage and reduce price fluctuations.The potential benefits and feasibility of linking different pilot systems are analyzed in this article.The seven pilot regions are at different stages of social and economic development,with significant differences in total emissions and emissions structures as well as carbon abatement potentials and costs.Through linking,more-developed regions such as Beijing,Shanghai and Shenzhen,which are typically considered to face higher mitigation costs,will have the opportunity to achieve their emissions control targets by purchasing carbon units from less-developed regions,which will earn financial revenues from selling the units.To realize this win-win result,a series of policy and technical barriers at both the central government and pilot government levels needs to be overcome.Establishing a unified national emissions trading market would appear to be the ideal solution to these challenges,but it will take considerable time and will not be the short-term solution.In the absence of a unified national scheme,it is recommended that the central government encourage pilot schemes to link,that it develops corresponding national policies to support the linking efforts and that the pilot schemes that are intended to be linked coordinate on certain design elements.Based on the coordinating need,the major elements of an ETS can be divided into four categories:elements that need mutual recognition(cap setting and allowance allocation methods);elements that should be completely identical(compliance mechanisms,price containment measures,banking and borrowing rules,and offset mechanisms);technical elements that are preferably identical and easy to coordinate(MRV standards,technical registry standards);and elements that require no coordination(coverages and scopes).

Long term efficacy and stability of corneal collagen cross linking for post-LASIK ectasia: an average of 80mo follow-up

This study was designed to evaluate efficacy and stability of corneal collagen crosslinking(CXL) in halting the progression of post-laser in situ keratomileusis(LASIK) ectasia and provide long-term follow-up results with an average of 80 mo. Patients with post-LASIK ectasia were treated with CXL between December 2007 and January 2012. Main outcome measures were uncorrected distance visual acuities(UDVA) and corrected distance visual acuities(CDVA), minimum and maximum keratometry(K) values, spherical and cylindrical refraction, and corneal thickness. The study evaluated 17 eyes for 13 patients(8 men, 5 women) with mean age of 31y(range 23 to 39) and mean follow-up of 80.7±15(range 57 to 102)mo. UDVA and CDVA improved from logMAR 0.53±0.36(20/63) to 0.49±0.4(20/50)(P=0.43) and from 0.18±0.17(20/28) to 0.16±0.16(20/27)(P=0.55) respectively. In 15 eyes UDVA and in 13 eyes CDVA either remained stable or improved ≥1 Snellen lines(88.2%) and(76.5%) respectively. Although statistically insignificant, spherical and cylindrical refraction decreased post-CXL from-1.26±2.87 to-0.38±2.32 diopters(D)(P=0.054) and from-3.80±2.47 to-3.04±2.18 D(P=0.13) respectively. Kmax significantly decreased from 44.23±3.76 to 42.85±3.08 D(P=0.013) and Kmin decreased from 41.07±3.61 to 40.00±2.65 D(P=0.057). Corneal thickness decreased from 470±42 to 460±41 μm, but was statistically non-significant(P=0.063). Therefore, CXL is effective in halting and partially reversing the progression of postLASIK ectasia on the long-term(mean follow-up of more than 80mo), thus highlighting the stability and maintained effect of CXL for such cases.

Correlation between corneal demarcation line depth in epithelium-off and trans-epithelium accelerated corneal cross linking and keratoconus progression

AIM:To compare corneal demarcation line(DL)depth in both accelerated epithelium-off and trans-epithelium cross linking(CXL)using anterior segment optical coherence tomography(AS-OCT)and its relation to maximum keratometry(Kmax)progression in both techniques.METHODS:A prospective comparative interventional study where patients with mild to moderate keratoconus(KC)were classified into two groups:accelerated epitheliumoff and trans-epithelium CXL based on corneal pachymetry.Assessment of corneal DL depth was carried out after 3mo by AS-OCT.Kmax readings were evaluated after one year follow up using the Scheimpflug imaging system.RESULTS:Study included 74 eyes of 44 patients.Group A underwent epithelium-off CXL(41 eyes),while Group B underwent trans-epithelium CXL(33 eyes).At 3mo follow up,mean corneal DL depth in Group A was 219.9±58.4μm while in Group B was 127.2±7.8μm(P<0.05).The mean Kmaxchangedfrom51.9±3.9to51.3±4.2dioptersin Group A and from 53.1±4.1 to 53.6±5 diopters in Group B with insignificant difference in Kmax changes in either group(P>0.05).In addition,no significant change in corneal pachymetry was found in both groups(meanchange at 1y:6.4±4.7 and-10.1±2.3μm in Groups A and B respectively).CONCLUSION:Despite a significantly deeper corneal DL depth created by accelerated epithelium-off CXL technique compared to accelerated trans-epithelium CXL,there is no significant impact on keratoconus progression.

Preparation of cross-linked enzyme aggregates of nitrile hydratase ES-NHT-118 from E.coli by macromolecular cross-linking agent

Cross-linked enzyme aggregates(CLEAs) of nitrile hydratase(NHase) ES-NHT-118 from Escherichia coli were prepared by using ammonium sulfate as precipitating agent followed by cross-linking with dextran polyaldehyde for the first time. In this process, egg white was added as protein feeder for facilitating the formation of CLEAs. The optimal conditions of the immobilization process were determined. Michaelis constants(Km) of free NHase and NHase CLEAs were also determined. The NHase CLEAs exhibited increased stability at varied pH and temperature conditions compared to its free counterpart. When exposed to high concentrations of acrylamide, NHase CLEAs also exhibited effective catalytic activity.

Linking strategies to optimize the robustness of multimodal transport network

In view of the problem that the multimodal transport network is vulnerable to attack and faces the risk of cascading failure,three low polarization linking strategies considering the characteristics of the multimodal transport network are proposed to optimize network robustness.They are the low polarization linking strategy based on the degree of nodes(D_LPLS),low polarization linking strategy based on the betweenness of nodes(B_LPLS),and low polarization linking strategy based on the closeness of nodes(C_LPLS).The multimodal transport network in the Sichuan-Tibet region is analyzed,and the optimization effects of these three strategies are compared with the random linking strategy under random attacks and intentional attacks.The results show that C_LPLS can effectively optimize the robustness of the network.Under random attacks,the advantages of C_LPLS are obvious when the ratio of increased links is less than 15%,but it has fewer advantages compared with B_LPLS when the ratio of increased links is 15%to 30%.Under intentional attacks,as the ratio of increased links goes up,the advantages of C_LPLS become more obvious.Therefore,the increase of links by C_LPLS is conducive to the risk control of the network,which can provide theoretical support for the optimization of future multimodal transport network structures.

A multi-attention RNN-based relation linking approach for question answering over knowledge base

Aiming at the relation linking task for question answering over knowledge base,especially the multi relation linking task for complex questions,a relation linking approach based on the multi-attention recurrent neural network(RNN)model is proposed,which works for both simple and complex questions.First,the vector representations of questions are learned by the bidirectional long short-term memory(Bi-LSTM)model at the word and character levels,and named entities in questions are labeled by the conditional random field(CRF)model.Candidate entities are generated based on a dictionary,the disambiguation of candidate entities is realized based on predefined rules,and named entities mentioned in questions are linked to entities in knowledge base.Next,questions are classified into simple or complex questions by the machine learning method.Starting from the identified entities,for simple questions,one-hop relations are collected in the knowledge base as candidate relations;for complex questions,two-hop relations are collected as candidates.Finally,the multi-attention Bi-LSTM model is used to encode questions and candidate relations,compare their similarity,and return the candidate relation with the highest similarity as the result of relation linking.It is worth noting that the Bi-LSTM model with one attentions is adopted for simple questions,and the Bi-LSTM model with two attentions is adopted for complex questions.The experimental results show that,based on the effective entity linking method,the Bi-LSTM model with the attention mechanism improves the relation linking effectiveness of both simple and complex questions,which outperforms the existing relation linking methods based on graph algorithm or linguistics understanding.

面向Link16的QualNet与虚拟机信息交互接口设计与实现

Link16是美国国防部采用的高速视距战术数据链,广泛应用于美国海军、联合部队和北约部队,针对其开展测试评估具有重要军事意义。通过硬件在环技术将Link16实物设备接入到仿真测试中,可有效提高测试结果的真实性和准确性。然而当测试场景需要进行实物设备组网测试时,仍会带来成本问题。为此,提出一种面向QualNet MAC层的Link16专属模型以及与之匹配的虚拟机信息交互接口。该模型可高逼真模拟Link16通信行为,实现Link16节点竞争接入、时隙划分、NPG分组等功能。并基于数据分布式服务实现了虚拟机交互接口,将运行在虚拟机的Link16设备模型接入QualNet测试场景。实验测试结果表明,所设计模型具有较高真实性和准确性且接口引入延时不超过1 ms,为大规模数据链网络测试提供一种新方法。

Systematic review and Meta-analysis comparing modified cross-linking and standard cross-linking for progressive keratoconus

AIM：To compare the effectiveness and safety between modified cross-linking（MC）and standard cross-linking（SC）in mild or moderate progressive keratoconus.METHODS：Eligible studies were retrieved from four electronic databases,including CENTRAL,Clinical Trials gov,Pup Med and OVID MEDLINE.We set post-surgical maximum K value（Kmax）as the primary outcome.In addition,uncorrected and corrected distant visual acuity（UDVA and UDVA）,spherical equivalent（SE）,endothelial cell density（ECD）,central cornea thickness（CCT）and depth of demarcation line（DDL）were Meta-analyzed as secondary outcomes.Mean differences for these outcomes were pooled through either a random-effect model or fixed-effect model according to data heterogeneity.RESULTS：Twenty-four comparative studies either on accelerated cross-linking（AC）compared with SC or on transepithelial cross-linking（TC）compared with SC were included and pooled for analysis.The results indicated that MC was significantly inferior to SC at delaying Kmax deterioration[AC vs SC 0.49（95%CI：0.04-0.94,I2=75%,P=0.03）;TC vs SC 1.15（95%CI：0.54-1.75,I2=50%,P=0.0002）].SE decreased significantly for SC when compared to AC[0.62（95%CI：0.38-0.86,I2=22%,P〈0.00001）].DDL of SC was more significantly deeper than that of TC[-133.49（95%CI：-145.94 to-121.04,I2=33%,P〈0.00001）].Other outcomes demonstrated comparable results between MC and SC.CONCLUSION：SC is more favorable at halting the progression of keratoconus,but visual acuity improvement showed comparable results between MCs and SC.

A Mathematical Solution to String Matching for Big Data Linking

This paper describes how data records can be matched across large datasets using a technique called the Identity Correlation Approach （ICA）. The ICA technique is then compared with a string matching exercise. Both the string matching exercise and the ICA technique were employed for a big data project carried out by the CSO. The project was called the SESADP （Structure of Earnings Survey Administrative Data Project） and involved linking the Irish Census dataset 2011 to a large Public Sector Dataset. The ICA technique provides a mathematical tool to link the datasets and the matching rate for an exact match can be calculated before the matching process begins. Based on the number of variables and the size of the population, the matching rate is calculated in the ICA approach from the MRUI （Matching Rate for Unique Identifier） formula, and false positives are eliminated. No string matching is used in the ICA, therefore names are not required on the dataset, making the data more secure ＆ ensuring confidentiality. The SESADP Project was highly successful using the ICA technique. A comparison of the results using a string matching exercise for the SESADP and the ICA are discussed here.