Development of laser scanning microscopy using a near ultraviolet laser

We have developed a legitimate fluorescence con-focal scanning microscope (CLSM) using a near ultraviolet (UV) laser. This system has almost no chromatic aberration from the near UV region to the visible region (350–600 nm), and the objectives are designed as water-immersion type. Therefore this system provides the high-quality fluorescence image excited by the near UV laser, and high-quality image of deep points in a sample.     

Robust speed control method for dc servomotors using adaptive gain law

The speed control ability of dc servomotors is affected by parameter variations and disturbance torque. In this paper, a robust speed control method for dc servomotors with a disturbance torque observer and a feedback controller is proposed. The disturbance torque observer is used for the compensation of parameter variations and disturbance. The feedback gain is adjusted in the aspect of stability by an adaptive gain law based on Lyapunov's direct method and is used to restrain the influence of estimation error for the disturbance observer. A robust current control scheme for a voltage source PWM inverter with disturbance observer is also presented, since current control ability affects the control performance of dc servomotors. The validity of this control scheme is verified by numerical simulations and experiments. © 1999 Scripta Technica, Electr Eng Jpn, 126(3): 30–40, 1999     

EvoCMAR: A New Evolutionary Method to Directly Mine Association Rules for Classification

In this paper, we propose an evolutionary method with a three‐layer structure to directly mine association rules for classification. The association rules have been demonstrated to be useful for classification, such as classification based on association rule (CBA) and classification method based on multiple association rule (CMAR), and they are found to be more accurate than some traditional methods, such as C4.5. Generally speaking, there are two phases in an associative classification method: (i) association rules mining; (ii) classification by association rules. However, the two phases are almost separated, viz, during the first phase, the mining of association rules does not focus on classification. Moreover, when building the classifier in the second phase, most of the association rues will be pruned. As a result, if we are able to directly mine the classification association rules, we can save time. Meanwhile, we can expect even better accuracy because the mining procedure itself considers the classification. In this paper, we build a novel evolutionary method, named evolutionary classification method based on multiple association rule (EvoCMAR), to tackle these problems, and the simulation results show that it performs well in both accuracy and speed. © 2010 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Magnetic characteristics analysis of permanent magnet motor by using complex approximation taking account of two‐dimensional magnetic properties

This paper presents a complex E&S modeling approach, which is developed with a complex approximation for conventional E&S modeling. Complex E&S modeling is used to analyze a permanent magnet motor and the validity of complex E&S modeling is demonstrated. The computation time of complex E&S modeling can be considerably reduced in comparison with conventional E&S modeling. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 180(2): 9–16, 2012; Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). DOI 10.1002/eej.21268     

Structure-property relations in crack-resistant alkaline-earth aluminoborosilicate glasses studied by solid state NMR

The effect of the average ionic potential ξ = Ze/r of the network modifier cations on crack initiation resistance (CR) and Young's modulus E has been measured for a series of alkaline-earth aluminoborosilicate glasses with the compositions 60SiO₂–10Al₂O₃–10B₂O₃–(20−x)M₍₂₎O–xM’O (0 ≤ x ≤ 20; M, M’ = Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba, Na). Systematic trends indicating an increase of CR with increasing ionic potential, ξ, have been correlated with structural properties deduced from the NMR interaction parameters in ²⁹Si, ²⁷Al, ²³Na, and ¹¹B solid state NMR. ²⁷Al NMR spectra indicate that the aluminum atoms in these glasses are essentially all four-coordinated, however, the average quadrupolar coupling constant <C_Q> extracted from lineshape analysis increases linearly with increasing average ion potential computed from the cation composition. A similar linear correlation is observed for the average ²⁹Si chemical shift, whereas the fraction of four-coordinate boron decreases linearly with increasing ξ. Altogether the results indicate that in pure alkaline-earth boroaluminosilicate glasses the crack resistance/E-modulus trade-off can be tailored by the alkaline-earth oxide inventory. In contrast, the situation looks more complicated in glasses containing both Na₂O and the alkaline-earth oxides MgO, CaO, SrO, and BaO. For 60SiO₂–10Al₂O₃–10B₂O₃–10MgO–10Na₂O glass, the NMR parameters, interpreted in the context of their correlations with ionic potentials, are consistent with a partial network former role of the MgO component, enhancing crack resistance. Altogether the presence of MgO in aluminoborosilicate glasses helps overcome the trade-off issue between high crack resistance and high elasticity modulus present in borosilicate glasses, thereby offering additional opportunities for the design of glasses that are both very rigid and very crack resistant.     

Direct analysis of lipids in single zooplankter individuals by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry

A highly sensitive method to analyze the intact lipids in a single zooplankter individual at the level of a few tenths of a microgram was developed by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) combined with a direct sampling technique. The sampling procedure involved (1) putting a zooplankter individual sample onto the MALDI sample plate, (2) cutting the sample into a few pieces by means of tweezers, (3) depositing aliquots of matrix and cationization reagent solutions on the zooplankter sample, and (4) irradiating with a N2 laser to cause MALDI. By using this technique, the mass spectra of the single zooplankter samples showed a series of ions generated from phospholipids with 34 or 36 carbons in the acyl groups and neutral lipids such as triglycerides and diacylglyceryl ethers with 50-54 carbons in their acyl and alkenyl groups. Accordingly, this method enabled us to estimate the relative quantity between "structured lipids" (phospholipids) and "storage lipids" (neutral lipids) in an individual zooplankter, which should give us a good clue to elucidate the roles of each class of lipids in its growth.     

Crystal growth and scintillation properties of (NaxCa1−2xLux−yNdy)F2 single crystals

Na_xCa_1−2xLu_x−yNd_yF₂ single crystals were grown from the melt using the precise atmosphere control type Micro-Pulling-Down (μ-PD) method to investigate their potential as a vacuum-ultraviolet (VUV) scintillators. The grown crystals were single-phase materials with fluorite-type structure (Fm-3m, Z = 4) as confirmed by XRD. The crystals demonstrated 80-90% transmittance above 200 nm wavelength and Nd³⁺ 5d-4f luminescence (when exited by X-ray) observed around 185 nm. The radioluminescence measurements under 5.5 MeV α-ray excitation (²⁴¹Am) demonstrated the light yield of 48 [Ph/5.5 MeV-α] and the decay time of 6.4-7.7 ns.     

Silicon precipitation via photoinduced reaction using femtosecond laser

Silicon precipitation inside a glass is an important technique for silicon photonics. We successfully precipitated silicon inside silicate glasses containing an Al metal film using femtosecond laser irradiation. First, the Al-inserted sandwiched glass was fabricated by the direct bonding method. The results of a tensile test indicated that the adhesive strength of the sandwich structure reached approximately 4 MPa. Next, femtosecond laser pulses were focused at the Al/glass interface in the sandwich structure. A transmission electron microscopy photograph at the focus of the laser showed that the Al particles were dispersed into the glass substrate to a depth of approximately 2 microm from the initial Al layer. In addition, Raman spectra indicated that silicon had formed at the interface between the glass and Al film after the laser irradiation. The morphology or the particle size of the precipitated silicon was successfully modified by changing the repetition rate or the pulse energy of the laser.     

Ab initio perspective of the 〈110〉 symmetrical tilt grain boundaries in bcc Fe: application of local energy and local stress

The mechanical properties of polycrystalline metals are strongly dependent on the microscopic structure, stability, and elastic properties of grain boundaries (GBs). By using ab initio local energy, local stress, and local Young’s modulus, we attempt to provide a comprehensive view on the stability and structural properties of a series of 〈110〉 symmetrical tilt GBs (STGBs) in bcc Fe. We deal with four representative STGBs, the Σ3 (112), Σ3 (111), Σ11 (332), and Σ9 (221) GBs with the rotation angles ranging from 109.47° to 38.94°. The Σ3 (112) GB shows special stability due to stable structural units of four-membered rings with negligible bond-length changes except for substantial bond-direction changes, like stacking faults or twins. The other GBs are constructed by periodic arrangement of 5–3 and bulk structural units as usual coincidence GBs, while the 5–3 unit in the Σ9 (221) GB has an aspect of an edge-dislocation array in a small-angle tilt GB such as alternate compressive and tensile stresses at both the edges and relatively wide spread of local energy and local stress on both sides. In the GBs other than the Σ3 (112) GB, there exist commonly two kinds of interface atoms; atoms with larger atomic volumes reveal higher local energies, tensile stresses, and enhanced magnetic moments, while the other kind of atoms forming compressed bonds reveal lower local energies, compressed stresses, and reduced magnetic moments. For the four GBs, the local Young’s modulus averaged in the structural units ranges from 60 to 90 % of the bulk Young’s modulus in accordance with the degree of structural disorder or GB energies. There exists clear correlation among the local Young’s modulus, local energy, local stress, local magnetic moment, and local bonding nature at the structural units in the Fe GBs.