The design, construction, and operational testing of a five-stage, fully interconnected 32 × 16 switching fabric by the use of smart-pixel (2, 1, 1) switching nodes are described. The arrays of switching nodes use monolithically integrated GaAs field-effect transistors, multiple-quantum-well p-i-n detectors, and self-electro-optic-device modulators. Each switching node incorporates 25 field-effect transistors and 17 p-i-n diodes to realize two differential optical receivers, the 2 × 1 node switching logic, a single-bit node control memory, and one differential optical transmitter. The five stages of node arrays are interconnected to form a two-dimensional banyan network by the use of Fourier-plane computer-generated holograms. System input and output are made by two-dimensional fiber-bundle matrices, and the system optical hardware design incorporates frequency-stabilized lasers, pupil-division beam combination, and a hybrid micro-macro lens for fiber-bundle imaging. Optomechanical packaging of the system ut lizes modular kinematic component positioning and active thermal control to enable simple rapid assembly. Two preliminary operational experiments are completed. In the first experiment, five stages are operated at 50 Mbits/s with 15 active inputs and outputs. The second experiment attempts to operate two stages of second-generation node arrays at 155 Mbits/s, with eight of the 15 active nodes functioning correctly along the straight switch-routing paths.

BackgroundPsychotic disorders affect up to 3% of the population and are often chronic and disabling. Innovation in the pharmacological treatment of psychosis has remained stagnant in recent decades. In order to improve outcomes for those with psychotic disorders, we present a protocol for the trial of a common food preservative, sodium benzoate, as an adjunctive treatment in early psychosis.MethodsPersons experiencing early psychosis (n = 160) will be recruited through hospitals and community mental health services in Queensland, Australia. Patients will be randomized to receive either 12-week treatment with 1000 mg (500 mg twice daily (BD)) sodium benzoate or placebo. Patients will undergo fortnightly outcome assessments, in addition to weekly ongoing capacity to consent, drug compliance and safety assessments. The primary outcome measure is the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) total score. Secondary outcomes are Global Assessment of Function (GAF), Assessment of Quality of Life Scale (AQOL), the Activity and Participation Questionnaire (APQ6), International Physical Activity Questionnaires (IPAQ), Simple Physical Activity Questionnaire (SIMPAQ), Physical Activity Questionnaire, Clinical Global Impression (CGI), Hamilton Depression rating Scale-17 items (HDRS), Opiate Treatment Index (OTI) and the Patients’ Global Impression of Improvement (PGI-I). As a tertiary objective, changes from baseline to endpoint in to serum markers related to D-alanine, L-alanine, D-serine, L-serine, glycine and glutamate will be investigated.DiscussionConsumers and clinicians are keen to help develop better treatments for those with psychosis. This study, part of the wider Cadence clinical trials platform will examine if a safe and accessible food preservative can help optimize outcomes in those with psychosis.Trial RegistrationAustralian New Zealand Clinical Trials registry (ANZCTR), ACTRN12615000187549. Registered on 26 February 2015.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13063-017-1908-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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We describe a new optoelectronic switching system demonstration that implements part of the distribution fabric for a large asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) switch. The system uses a single optoelectronic VLSI modulator-based switching chip with more than 4000 optical input-outputs. The optical system images the input fibers from a two-dimensional fiber bundle onto this chip. A new optomechanical design allows the system to be mounted in a standard electronic equipment frame. A large section of the switch was operated as a 208-Mbits/s time-multiplexed space switch, which can serve as part of an ATM switch by use of an appropriate out-of-band controller. A larger section with 896 input light beams and 256 output beams was operated at 160 Mbits/s as a slowly reconfigurable space switch.

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