Design and Analysis of Refractometer Based on Bend Waveguide Structure with Air Trench for Optical Sensor Applications

This study proposes a novel optical sensor structure based on a refractometer combining a bend waveguide with an air trench. The optical sensor is a splitter structure with a reference channel and a sensing channel. The reference channel has a straight waveguide. The sensing channel consists of a U‐bend waveguide connecting four C‐bends, and a trench structure to partially expose the core layer. The U‐bend waveguide consists of one C‐bend with the maximum optical loss and three C‐bends with minimum losses. A trench provides a quantitative measurement environment and is aligned with the sidewall of the C‐bend having the maximum loss. The intensity of the output power depends on the change in the refractive index of the measured material. The insertion loss of the proposed optical sensor changes from 3.7 dB to 59.1 dB when the refractive index changes from 1.3852 to 1.4452.     

A study of the emotional evaluation models of color patterns based on the adaptive fuzzy system and the neural network

Proposed in this article are two kinds of emotional models based on the neural network and the adaptive fuzzy system that can transform the physical features of a color pattern into its emotional features. The purpose of this system of models is to evaluate the neural network and adaptive fuzzy system for its ability to model psychological experimental data in a way similar to what a human expert would do. Construction of the models was motivated by Soen's psychological experiments, in which he found that such physical features as average hue, saturation, and intensity and the dynamic components of color patterns affected the emotional features represented by a pair of adjectives having opposite meanings. One is based on the neural network in the proposed models, and the other consists of two adaptive fuzzy rule bases and a γ model, a fuzzy set operator, to fuse the evaluation values produced by them. The proposed models showed superior performances compared to Soen's model in the approximation of nonlinear transforms, whereas the latter showed an advantage in obtaining the linguistic interpretation from the trained results. The evaluated results of color patterns can be used to construct a emotion‐based color‐pattern retrieval system, which would be able to recommend the color patterns of a desired human feeling. We believe that in linguistic queries of human feelings, these color‐pattern retrieval systems would be able to select from a gallery the corresponding textile designs, wallpapers, or pictures. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 27, 208–216, 2002; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/col.10052     

Electrical and thermal transport properties of vanadium oxide thin films on metallic bipolar plates for fuel cell applications

We have focused on the in-depth comparative evaluation of the suitability of electrically-induced thermal transport characteristics of highly disordered vanadium oxide thin films deposited onto metallic bipolar plates as an expeditious self-heating source for the successful cold-start of fuel cells in a subfreezing environment. To achieve this, sol–gel derived vanadium oxide thin films on the non-polished surface of 316L austenitic and 446M ferritic substrates have been fabricated by a dip-coating process. The effects of electrical properties on thermal energy dissipation rate of the as-synthesized thin films deposited onto 316L and 446M stainless steel plates were firstly investigated and compared with each other. Subsequently, a series of physical, chemical, and structural analyses of the thin films have been performed using several analytical techniques such as the ASTM D3359, the ASTM D5946, XPS, and FE-SEM. The most important finding of this study was that the electrical resistivity of the thin films on 446M ferritic substrate was extremely low on a level of 4.8% of the 316L sample at −20 °C, and then the surface temperature rise of the thin film on 316L austenitic substrates was approximately 21.8 times greater than that of 446M ferritic substrates under simulated cold starting conditions (i.e., at a current density of 0.1 A·cm⁻² at −20 °C). Therefore, we concluded that vanadium oxide thin films on 316L austenitic stainless steel plates appears to be more applicable than those of 446M ferritic substrates for the cold-start enhancement of fuel cells from the practical point of view.     

Optical Properties of Polydispersed Atmospheric Aerosols Following Wet Removal

It is well known that size distributions of aerosols influence their optical properties. Many previous studies have focused on the optical properties of aerosols with particular weather conditions, such as haze, fog, or pollution. However, few studies have investigated the influence of precipitation on the optical properties of aerosols. In this study, the optical properties of polydispersed atmospheric aerosols following a wet removal process were investigated. For these calculations, a lognormal distribution was used to represent the raindrop size distribution and the tri-modal aerosol size distributions. Variations in aerosol size distributions and the corresponding changes an extinction coefficient caused by the wet scavenging process were quantified with different compositions of aerosols as a function of rain intensity. The results showed that the extinction coefficient decreased and the corresponding visibility was enhanced with the precipitation duration because of the precipitation scavenging. It was also shown that the rain intensity and the refractive index and size distribution of aerosols influenced the calculations of extinction coefficient of aerosols.     

Effects of Powder Carrier on the Morphology and Compressive Strength of Iron Foams: Water <Emphasis Type="Italic">vs</Emphasis> Camphene

With its well-known popularity in structural applications, considerable attention has recently been paid to iron (Fe) and its oxides for its promising functional applications such as biodegradable implants, water-splitting electrodes, and the anode of lithium-ion batteries. For these applications, iron and its oxides can be even further utilized in the form of porous structures. In order to control the pore size, shape, and amount, we synthesized Fe foams using suspensions of micrometric Fe₂O₃ powder reduced to Fe via freeze casting in water or liquid camphene as a solvent through sublimation of either ice or camphene under 5 pct H₂/Ar gas and sintering. We then compared them and found that the resulting Fe foam using water as a solvent (p?=?71.7 pct) showed aligned lamellar macropores replicating ice dendrite colonies, while Fe foam using camphene as a solvent (p?=?68.0 pct) exhibited interconnected equiaxed macropores replicating camphene dendrites. For all directions with respect to the loading axis, the compressive behavior of the water-based Fe foam with a directional elongated wall pore structure was anisotropic (11.6?±?0.9 MPa vs 7.8?±?0.8 MPa), whereas that of the camphene-based Fe foam with a random round pore structure was nearly isotropic (12.0?±?1.1 MPa vs 11.6?±?0.4 MPa).     

Core/shell nanoparticles for pH-sensitive delivery of doxorubicin

Core/shell nanoparticles with lipid core were prepared and characterized as pH-sensitive delivery system of anticancer drug. The lipid core is composed of drug-loaded lecithin and the polymeric shell is composed of Pluronics (poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(propylene oxide)-poly(ethylene oxide) tri-block copolymer, F-127). Based on the preparation method in the previous report by us, the freeze-drying of drug-loaded lecithin was performed in the F-127 aqueous solution containing trehalose used as a cryoprotectant to form stabilized core/shell nanoparticles. For the application of core/shell nanoparticles as a pH-sensitive drug delivery system for anticancer drug, doxorubicin was loaded into the core/shell nanoparticles and the drug loading amount and drug release behavior in response to pH change were observed.     

Surface properties of etched ITO thin films using high density plasma

The etching characteristics of ITO in a BCl₃/Ar plasma, including the etch rate and selectivity of ITO, were investigated. The maximum etch rate of 62.8 nm/min for the ITO thin films was obtained at a BCl₃/Ar gas mixing ratio of 25%/75%. Ion bombardment by physical sputtering was required to obtain such high etch rates, due to the relatively low volatility of the by-products formed during the etching. The chemical reactions on the etched surfaces were investigated using X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) and the preferential losses on the etched surfaces were investigated using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM).     

IPTV Systems, Standards and Architectures: Part II - Heterogeneous Networks and Terminal-Aware QoS/QoE-Guaranteed Mobile IPTV Service

We describe two main technical challenges in terms of the network and application levels for mobile IPTV service. To support a multimedia- streaming application service over a mobile network environment, we present the IP/MPLS-based NGN architecture with fixed and mobile convergence and its challenge, which is basically to support QoS for mobile IPTV ser vice. To meet the challenges for application source levels, we focus on the relationship of user terminals and video streaming sources to support user-perceived QoE, based on high- quality service between heterogeneous terminals. The techniques to meet these challenges depend on the characteristics of media processing and terminal capabilities, such as LCD panel size, resolution, video coding, and so on, in the heterogeneous network environment. To have a relationship between the two different levels, the significant factors mentioned previously are required to deliver the bandwidth coupled with a user profile to provide QoS/QoE in assured seamless mobile IPTV service on client devices.