基于视觉目标跟踪的侦察机器人导航方法

针对未知环境下侦察机器人的自主导航问题,提出了一种基于视觉目标跟踪的侦察机器人导航方法.首先利用二进制鲁棒独立元素特征(BRIEF)提取方法来检测和描述待跟踪视觉目标的局部不变特征点,在快速的特征匹配计算基础上提出由粗到精的目标定位两步法实现机器人导航过程中视觉目标的实时准确跟踪.其次对基于视觉目标跟踪的自主导航任务进行行为分解和实现,在行为中集成视觉目标跟踪算法.最后利用基于宏行为的机器人事务执行机制实现移向视觉目标的自主导航控制.实验结果表明,提出的方法能够使侦察机器人实时准确地跟踪视觉引导目标,在复杂障碍物环境下可靠地完成移向目标的自主导航任务.     

用户中继热线自动接续系统

提出以单片机为核心构成自动接续装置,检测程控交换机中继线路的直流状态和交流信号音,实现“热线电话”中继线路的自动接续．     

量子通信实用化现状分析与探讨

量子密钥分发和量子隐形传态不断取得的新突破,使量子通信实用化问题日益成为关注的焦点。本文简析了量子通信研究的发展历程,并对量子通信的实用化现状进行了概括：实用化量子密钥分发技术已近在眼前,但量子隐形传态的实用化仍尚需时日。针对认识和理解量子通信时的典型误区,本文做了简要澄清。根据量子通信实用化发展态势,为我国量子通信的发展提出了4点对策和建议     

Robust Chattering-Free Finite Time Attitude Tracking Control with Input Saturation

This paper addresses the attitude tracking control problem of a rigid spacecraft in the presence of the modeling uncertainty, external disturbance, and saturated control input by designing two robust attitude tracking controllers. The basic controller is formulated using an integral sliding mode surface which is continuous and provides an asymptotic convergence rate for the closed-loop system. In this case, only the external disturbance with the prior information is considered. Then, to provide a finite time convergence rate and further improve the robustness of the control system under the unknown system uncertainty containing both the modeling uncertainty and external disturbance,a novel integral terminal sliding mode surface(ITSMS) is designed and associated with the continuous adaptive control method. Besides, a command filter is utilized to deal with the immeasurability problem within the proposed ITSMS and an auxiliary system to counteract the input saturation problem. Digital simulations are presented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed controllers.     

Act in contravention: a non-planar coupled electrode design utilizing "tip effect" for ultra-high areal capacity,long cycle life zinc-based batteries

Aqueous zinc-based batteries (ZBBs) have great potential as commercial energy storage devices.However,the poor cycling stability of zinc anode under high areal ...     

Structure and function of Zika virus NS5 protein: perspectives for drug design

Zika virus (ZIKV) belongs to the positive-sense single-stranded RNA-containing Flaviviridae family. Its recent outbreak and association with human diseases (e.g. neurological disorders) have raised global health concerns, and an urgency to develop a therapeutic strategy against ZIKV infection. However, there is no currently approved antiviral against ZIKV. Here we present a comprehensive overview on recent progress in structure–function investigation of ZIKV NS5 protein, the largest non-structural protein of ZIKV, which is responsible for replication of the viral genome, RNA capping and suppression of host interferon responses. Structural comparison of the N-terminal methyltransferase domain and C-terminal RNA-dependent RNA polymerase domain of ZIKV NS5 with their counterparts from related viruses provides mechanistic insights into ZIKV NS5-mediated RNA replication, and identifies residues critical for its enzymatic activities. Finally, a collection of recently identified small molecule inhibitors against ZIKV NS5 or its closely related flavivirus homologues are also discussed.     

Differentiated cells are more efficient than adult stem cells for cloning by somatic cell nuclear transfer

Since the creation of Dolly via somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), more than a dozen species of mammals have been cloned using this technology. One hypothesis for the limited success of cloning via SCNT (1%-5%) is that the clones are likely to be derived from adult stem cells. Support for this hypothesis comes from the findings that the reproductive cloning efficiency for embryonic stem cells is five to ten times higher than that for somatic cells as donors and that cloned pups cannot be produced directly from cloned embryos derived from differentiated B and T cells or neuronal cells. The question remains as to whether SCNT-derived animal clones can be derived from truly differentiated somatic cells. We tested this hypothesis with mouse hematopoietic cells at different differentiation stages: hematopoietic stem cells, progenitor cells and granulocytes. We found that cloning efficiency increases over the differentiation hierarchy, and terminally differentiated postmitotic granulocytes yield cloned pups with the greatest cloning efficiency.     

Epigenetic remodeling in colorectal cancer results in coordinate gene suppression across an entire chromosome band

We report a new mechanism in carcinogenesis involving coordinate long-range epigenetic gene silencing. Epigenetic silencing in cancer has always been envisaged as a local event silencing discrete genes. However, in this study of silencing in colorectal cancer, we found common repression of the entire 4-Mb band of chromosome 2q.14.2, associated with global methylation of histone H3 Lys9. DNA hypermethylation within the repressed genomic neighborhood was localized to three separate enriched CpG island 'suburbs', with the largest hypermethylated suburb spanning 1 Mb. These data change our understanding of epigenetic gene silencing in cancer cells: namely, epigenetic silencing can span large regions of the chromosome, and both DNA-methylated and neighboring unmethylated genes can be coordinately suppressed by global changes in histone modification. We propose that loss of gene expression can occur through long-range epigenetic silencing, with similar implications as loss of heterozygosity in cancer.     

Male-pattern baldness susceptibility locus at 20p11

We conducted a genome-wide association study for androgenic alopecia in 1,125 men and identified a newly associated locus at chromosome 20p11.22, confirmed in three independent cohorts (n = 1,650; OR = 1.60, P = 1.1 x 10(-14) for rs1160312). The one man in seven who harbors risk alleles at both 20p11.22 and AR (encoding the androgen receptor) has a sevenfold-increased odds of androgenic alopecia (OR = 7.12, P = 3.7 x 10(-15)).     

MicroRNA Mirn140 modulates Pdgf signaling during palatogenesis

Disruption of signaling pathways such as those mediated by sonic hedgehog (Shh) or platelet-derived growth factor (Pdgf) causes craniofacial abnormalities, including cleft palate. The role that microRNAs play in modulating palatogenesis, however, is completely unknown. We show that, in zebrafish, the microRNA Mirn140 negatively regulates Pdgf signaling during palatal development, and we provide a mechanism for how disruption of Pdgf signaling causes palatal clefting. The pdgf receptor alpha (pdgfra) 3' UTR contained a Mirn140 binding site functioning in the negative regulation of Pdgfra protein levels in vivo. pdgfra mutants and Mirn140-injected embryos shared a range of facial defects, including clefting of the crest-derived cartilages that develop in the roof of the larval mouth. Concomitantly, the oral ectoderm beneath where these cartilages develop lost pitx2 and shha expression. Mirn140 modulated Pdgf-mediated attraction of cranial neural crest cells to the oral ectoderm, where crest-derived signals were necessary for oral ectodermal gene expression. Mirn140 loss of function elevated Pdgfra protein levels, altered palatal shape and caused neural crest cells to accumulate around the optic stalk, a source of the ligand Pdgfaa. These results suggest that the conserved regulatory interactions of mirn140 and pdgfra define an ancient mechanism of palatogenesis, and they provide candidate genes for cleft palate.