Synthesis and properties of Cr-Al-Si-N films deposited by hybrid coating system with high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HIPIMS) and DC pulse sputtering

The CrN and Cr-Al-Si-N films were deposited on Si wafer and SUS 304 substrates by a hybrid coating system with high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HIPIMS) and a DC pulse sputtering using Cr and AlSi targets under N2/Ar atmosphere.By varying the sputtering current of the AlSi target in the range of 0-2.5 A,both the Al and Si contents in the films increased gradually from 0 to 19.1% and 11.1% (mole fraction),respectively.The influences of the AlSi cathode DC pulse current on the microstructure,phase constituents,mechanical properties,and oxidation behaviors of the Cr-Al-Si-N films were investigated systematically.The results indicate that the as-deposited Cr-Al-Si-N films possess the typical nanocomposite structure,namely the face centered cubic (Cr,Al)N nano-crystallites are embedded in the amorphous Si3N4 matrix.With increasing the Al and Si contents,the hardness of the film first increases from 20.8 GPa for the CrN film to the peak value of 29.4 GPa for the Cr0.23Al0.14Si0.07 N film,and then decreases gradually.In the meanwhile,the Cr0.23Al0.14Si0.07N film also possesses excellent high-temperature oxidation resistance that is much better than that of the CrN film at 900 or 1000 °C.     

聚乙烯管道电熔焊接接头的超声检测

聚乙烯管连接中大量使用电熔接头,其质量的好坏直接影响管道系统的安全。分析了超声聚焦检测技术对聚乙烯管电熔接头各类缺陷的检出能力。在此基础上,运用相控阵超声技术及B扫描实时成像超声方法检测大量含缺陷接头,对比超声成像图与接头实剖图,发现该方法有较高的检测灵敏度和检出精度,可以应用于工程实践。     

Olfactory Decoding Method Using Neural Spike Signals

This paper presents a novel method for inferring the odor based on neural activities observed from rats' main olfactory bulbs.Multi-channel extra-cellular single unit recordings are done by micro-wire electrodes(Tungsten,50 μm,32 channels)implanted in the mitral/tufted cell layers of the main olfactory bulb of the anesthetized rats to obtain neural responses to various odors.Neural responses as a key feature are measured by subtraction firing rates before stimulus from after.For odor inference,a decoding method is developed based on the ML estimation.The results show that the average decoding accuracy is about 100.0%,96.0%,and 80.0% with three rats,respectively.This work has profound implications for a novel brain-machine interface system for odor inference.     

Modified Laser Speckle Imaging with Adaptive Window

One of the advantages of laser speckle is detecting micro-vascular through image processing. This paper proposes a new image processing method for laser speckle, adaptive window method that adaptively processes laser speckle images in the space. Disadvantage of conventional fixed window method is that it uses the same window size regardless of target areas. Inherently laser speckle contains undesired noise. Thus a large window is helpful for removing the noise, but it results in low resolution of image. Otherwise a small window may detect micro vascular but it has limits in noise removal. To overcome this trade-off, the concept of adaptive window method is newly introduced to conventional laser speckle image analysis. In addition, the modified adaptive window method applied to other selection images. We have compared conventional Laser Speckle Contrast Analysis(LASCA) and its variants with the proposed method in terms of image quality and processing complexity. Moreover compared the result of the accompanied changing selection images have also been compared.     

Mechanical and electrical properties of In-Bi solder at Bi2212 superconductor interface with annealed Ag spray layers and Ag precoating layers

The electrical properties of solder contact layers between Cu-Ni shunt metal and tube type Bi₂₂₁₂ superconductor that is applied in superconducting fault current limiter were studied. The contact properties of the solders are improved not only by Ag precoating layers, but also by the pre-sprayed Ag layer and subsequent Ag precoating layers. The annealed Ag sprayed layers onto Bi₂₂₁₂ superconductor prior to Ag electroplating work as protecting layers for the superconductor from plating solutions. The contact angle of the electroplated Ag layer is 42.91° and decreases to 15.25° and 5.88° with Ag sprayed layer and additional Ag electroplated layers. The Ag sprayed layer with suitable annealing prior to Ag electroplating improves contact strength of the Ag electroplated layer by about 12% due to denser microstructure of the Ag electroplated layers.     

Finger Flexion Motion Inference from sEMG Signals

This paper provides a method to infer finger flexing motions using a 4-channel surface Electromyogram(sEMG).Surface EMGs are harmless to the human body and easily done.However,they do not reflect the activity of specific nerves or muscles,unlike invasive EMGs.On the other hand,the non-invasive type is difficult to use for discriminating various motions while using only a small number of electrodes.Surface EMG data in this study were obtained from four electrodes placed around the forearm.The motions were the flexion of each 5 single fingers(thumb,index finger,middle finger,ring finger,and little fingers).One subject was trained with these motions and another left was untrained.The maximum likelihood estimation method was used to infer the finger motion.Experimental results have showed that this method could be useful for recognizing finger motions.The average accuracy was as high as 95%.     

Quantitative Brain Recovery Assessment Using EEG After Cardiac Arrest

This paper presents a study of measures that enable diagnosis of brain recovery after cardiac arrest by using subband-based Information Quantity (SIQ).By using Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) and Shannon Entropy (SE),brain signals after cardiac arrest are converted into quantitative IQ and this is put into subband-based IQ.By using IQ and SIQ,a comparison and analysis on correlation between measures suggested in this paper and Neural Deficit Score (NDS) is developed.This goes further by collecting the features in each subband and analyzing the changes in brain signals from the biological prospective.Experiment data is collected from 26 rats.Based on correlation between suggested measures and NDS,this study will allow early assessment of brain recovery after cardiac arrest.Furthermore,it is expected that proposed measures could be an assistant index of NDS.