Hole-assisted dual concentric core fiber with ultralarge negative dispersion coefficient of -13,200 ps/nm/km

We propose a dual concentric core fiber (DCCF) with six homogeneous air holes, designed to realize a large negative dispersion coefficient. We clarify numerically that the dispersion property of the proposed DCCF can be controlled flexibly by adjusting the air-hole structure, and we realize the largest reported negative dispersion of -13,200 ps/nm/km experimentally.     

Opsonic activity of bovine serum and mammary secretion after Escherichia coli J5 vaccination.

Six pairs of cows were used to determine the effects of immunization with an Escherichia coli (O111:B4) J5 bacterin on in vitro opsonization of a smooth heterologous strain of E. coli. One cow in each pair was either immunized with the vaccine or sham-immunized at drying off, 30 d after drying off, and at calving. Opsonizing bacteria with serum collected from vaccinated cows 21 d after calving resulted in higher mean number of intracellular bacteria per phagocytosing neutrophil than opsonizing bacteria with serum collected from control cows. Phagocytic parameters using serum collected at drying off and calving did not differ between treatment groups. A trend for enhanced opsonic activity of colostrum from vaccinates was noted. Enhanced opsonization by serum from vaccinated cows coincided with higher serum IgM titer to E. coli J5 whole cell antigen compared with controls. Serum IgG titers to E. coli J5 did not differ between groups. Colostrum IgG titers to E. coli J5 were greater at calving in vaccinated than in control cows. Colostrum and milk collected 21 d after calving from vaccinated cows had higher IgM titers to E. coli J5 than did mammary secretions from control cows. Numbers of intracellular bacteria per phagocytizing neutrophil were correlated positively with IgM titers to E. coli J5 in both serum and colostrum.     

A Fine-Grained Runtime Power/Performance Optimization Method for Processors with Adaptive Pipeline Depth

Recently,a method known as pipeline stage unification (PSU) has been proposed to alleviate the increasing energy consumption problem in modern microprocessors.PSU achieves a high energy efficiency by employing a changeable pipeline depth and its working scheme is eligible for a fine control method.In this paper,we propose a dynamic method to study fine-grained program interval behaviors based on some easy-to-get runtime processor metrics.Using this method to determine the proper PSU configurations during the program execution,we are able to achieve an averaged 13.5% energy-delay-product (EDP) reduction for SPEC CPU2000 integer benchmarks,compared to the baseline processor.This value is only 0.14% larger than the theoretically idealized controlling.Our hardware synthesis result indicates that the proposed method can largely decrease the hardware overhead in both area and delay costs,as compared to a previous program study method which is based on working set signatures.     

Prevention of explosion in coal mine and management of coal mine gas

There are many problems in terms of safe coal production and the sound development of the coal industry. Accompanying the intensification and increasing efficiency of coal production and the conducting of mining operations at deeper and more remote areas of mines, the efficient recovery and utilization of Coal Mine Methane (CMM) is an important issue in improving and stabilizing the productivity in the coal mining industry with high levels of gas, where the incidence of gas outbursts is increasing. We plan to study various aspects of the development of production technology and characteristics of the mine site. This is to establish the technology for highly efficient coproduction coal and gas operation rate. As a result, the productivity at the coal mine face will increase due to the reduction in gas emissions in the mining face. Effective use of recovered gas can be expected to reduce global warming by reducing the amount of coal mine methane gas emission in the air.     

Ultra-high-density interconnection technology of three-dimensional packaging

The study of 20-μm-pitch interconnection technology of three-dimensional (3D) packaging focused on reliability, ultrasonic flip–chip bonding and Cu bump bonding is described. The interconnection life under a temperature cycling test (TCT) was at an acceptable level for semiconductor packages. Failure analysis and finite element analysis revealed the effect of material properties. Basic studies on ultrasonic flip–chip bonding and very small Cu bump formation were investigated for low-stress bonding methods. The accuracy of ultrasonic flip–chip bonding was almost the same level as that of thermocompression bonding and the electrical connection was also confirmed. Atomic-level bonding was established at the interface of Au bumps. For Cu bump bonding, a dry process was applied for under bump metallurgy (UBM) removal. Electroless Sn diffusion in Cu was investigated and the results clarified that the intermetallic layer was formed just after plating. Finally, we succeeded in building a stacked chip sample with 20-μm-pitch interconnections.     

Transient photoinduced 'hidden' phase in a manganite

Photoinduced phase transitions are of special interest in condensed matter physics because they can be used to change complex macroscopic material properties on the ultrafast timescale. Cooperative interactions between microscopic degrees of freedom greatly enhance the number and nature of accessible states, making it possible to switch electronic, magnetic or structural properties in new ways. Photons with high energies, of the order of electron volts, in particular are able to access electronic states that may differ greatly from states produced with stimuli close to equilibrium. In this study we report the photoinduced change in the lattice structure of a charge and orbitally ordered Nd(0.5)Sr(0.5)MnO(3) thin film using picosecond time-resolved X-ray diffraction. The photoinduced state is structurally ordered, homogeneous, metastable and has crystallographic parameters different from any thermodynamically accessible state. A femtosecond time-resolved spectroscopic study shows the formation of an electronic gap in this state. In addition, the threshold-like behaviour and high efficiency in photo-generation yield of this gapped state highlight the important role of cooperative interactions in the formation process. These combined observations point towards a 'hidden insulating phase' distinct from that found in the hitherto known phase diagram.     

Taxonomic and Gene Category Analyses of Subgingival Plaques from a Group of Japanese Individuals with and without Periodontitis

Periodontitis is an inflammation of tooth-supporting tissues, which is caused by bacteria in the subgingival plaque (biofilm) and the host immune response. Traditionally, subgingival pathogens have been investigated using methods such as culturing, DNA probes, or PCR. The development of next-generation sequencing made it possible to investigate the whole microbiome in the subgingival plaque. Previous studies have implicated dysbiosis of the subgingival microbiome in the etiology of periodontitis. However, details are still lacking. In this study, we conducted a metagenomic analysis of subgingival plaque samples from a group of Japanese individuals with and without periodontitis. In the taxonomic composition analysis, genus Bacteroides and Mycobacterium demonstrated significantly different compositions between healthy sites and sites with periodontal pockets. The results from the relative abundance of functional gene categories, carbohydrate metabolism, glycan biosynthesis and metabolism, amino acid metabolism, replication and repair showed significant differences between healthy sites and sites with periodontal pockets. These results provide important insights into the shift in the taxonomic and functional gene category abundance caused by dysbiosis, which occurs during the progression of periodontal disease.     

An in‐cell capacitive touch sensor integrated in an LTPS WSVGA TFT‐LCD

This paper discusses an In‐cell capacitive touch sensor and its integration in an LTPS TFT‐LCD with 7‐inch screen size and WSVGA resolution. The operation of the newly developed sensor is based on capacitive coupling between user's finger and the detection electrode on the TFT substrate, and is purely capacitive. The sensors and the sensor driver circuits have been integrated in the TFT substrate of the prototype TFT‐LCD using LTPS technology. The prototype having 256x150 sensors shows advantages such as smooth operation with no touch force, high position accuracy, multi‐touch (10 or more), a thin and light LCD module, high display quality, and thus is suitable for various applications such as cell‐phones, smart‐phones, mobile‐PCs, and automotive‐use displays.     

Immobilization of cholesterol esterase in mesoporous silica materials and its hydrolytic activity toward diethyl phthalate

Cholesterol esterase (CE, cholesteryl ester hydrolase, EC 3.1.1.13) from porcine pancreas (molecular weight 400–500 kDa) exhibits hydrolytic activity toward various toxic organic phthalate esters. CE was confined in the nanospace (diameter 3–30 nm) of five types of mesoporous silica (MPS) that differ in structural properties such as pore diameter, pore volume, and particle morphology. These structural properties were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, small-angle X-ray diffraction, N₂ adsorption–desorption experiments, solid-state ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and solid-state ²⁹Si NMR. Catalytic activities of immobilized and free CE were evaluated by the hydrolysis of diethyl phthalate in phosphate buffer solutions containing an organic cosolvent. Optimal activity recovery was achieved when CE was immobilized in n-decane-functionalized MPS, which had a large pore size (22.5 nm). The immobilization also protected against effects of temperature within the range 30 °C–60 °C; CE immobilized in n-decyl-functionalized MPS exhibited better thermal stability than in non-functionalized MPS or free CE. Moreover, it retained approximately 60% of its catalytic activity even after six catalytic cycles.