An Automatic Guidance System of a Self-Controlled Vehicle

An automatically guided vehicle, traveling without fixed guide ways, has been developed. In this paper, the construction of the vehicle, the control algorithm, and its general performance are described.     

Creation of Titania Artificial Interfaces with Geometric Patterns by Using Microstereolithography and Aqueous Solution Techniques

Titania micropatterns with periodic arrangements were successfully formed on glass substrates for use with electromagnetic wave energy resonance and localizations in terahertz frequency ranges. Geometric arrangements of acrylic polygonal tablets with titania particle dispersions were fabricated by using micropatterning stereolithography. Moreover, periodically arranged full anatase‐phase titania tablets were created homogeneously through liquid‐phase crystal depositions of water solvent processes, using microtemplates fabricated by using the stereolithography system. The terahertz wave properties were measured and calculated by using a time‐domain spectroscopic system and finite‐difference time‐domain method.     

Daily variation in an intensity of kaolin-induced writhing reaction in mice

The daily variation in an intensity of kaolin-induced writhing reaction was examined in mice kept under conditions of light; 07:00 - 19:00 and dark; 19:00 - 07:00. The number of writhes was counted for 30 minutes after a single intraperitoneal injection of kaolin at 00:00, 02:00, 04:00, 06:00, 08:00, 10:00, 12:00, 14:00, 16:00, 18:00, 20:00 and 22:00. The number of writhes showed a daily variation with a peak at 18:00 and a trough at 06:00. The intensity of writhing reaction was significantly reduced by pretreatment with the bradykinin B1 (Des-Arg9-[Leu8]-BK) and B2 (icatibant) receptor antagonists. Significant daily variation in this parameter was still observed in the group with the B1 antagonist, but disappeared in the B2 antagonist-treated group. These results suggest that the kaolin-induced writhing reaction shows the daily variation with a peak at the end of the resting period and a trough at the end of the active period. The B2 receptor mediated stimuli appears to be involved in this phenomenon.     

Assessment of human–machine interface design for a Chinese nuclear power plant

A nuclear power plant (NPP) is a complex system but requires high reliability. The human–machine interface (HMI) design plays very important role in reactor safety. This paper describes an assessment on HMI design of a Chinese NPP, using a software system named Dynamic Interaction Analysis Support (DIAS). DIAS can give not only quantitative indices for dynamically assessing the HMI design, but also allow modify the values of these indices by taking into account human error probability during specified emergent operation procedures. The operation procedures dealing with postulated accidents and transients recorded from a full-scale plant simulator in the training center of a Chinese NPP were selected as references. According to the results of simulation and analysis, the potential problems in the HMI design and the operation procedures were detected. Suggestions to improve the HMI design and the operation procedures were addressed.     

Damage Analysis of Hanshin Expressway Viaducts during 1995 Kobe Earthquake. III: Three-Span Continuous Girder Bridges

Almost all the single reinforced concrete (RC) piers from P35 to P350 received consistently severe damage, considering the large residual inclination of piers included in earthquake-induced severe damage. However, some of the piers in the section from P35 to P350 remained lightly damaged, and this phenomenon is observed especially in many piers under fixed bearings in continuous girder bridges. In this study, using experimentally based models for metal bearings and installing them to an existing FEM code, a nonlinear dynamic response analysis of a continuous girder bridge system is conducted. It is shown that the results depend on the ground motion, but the fuse effect of the breaking of the bearings could have been a reason for the phenomenon.     

A 144-Mb, eight-level NAND flash memory with optimized pulsewidthprogramming

We report a fast-programming, compact sense and latch (SL) circuit to realize an eight-level NAND flash memory. Fast programming is achieved by supplying optimized voltage and pulsewidth to the bit lines, according to the programming data. As a result, all data programming is completed almost simultaneously, and 0.67-MB/s program throughput, which is 1.7 times faster than conventional program throughput, is achieved. The compact layout of the SL circuit is made possible by four 3-bit latches sharing one unit of the read/verify control circuit. Using these techniques, we fabricated a 144-Mb, eight-level NAND flash memory using a 0.35-μm CMOS process, resulting in a 104.2-mm² die size and a 1.05-μm² effective cell size     

Separation of a Nonstationary Component from the EEG by a Nonlinear Digital Filter

A new nonlinear digital filter which separates nonstationary waves such as spikes from stationary background waves of the EEG is proposed. This filter is composed of a prediction filter and a simple nonlinear function. Some examples showing the separation of spikes from EEG data of epileptic patients are given.     

Ethylene carbonate/ether solvents for electrolytes in lithium secondary batteries

An examination has been made of the effectiveness of ethylene carbonate(EC)/2-methyltetrahydrofuran(2-MeTHF) solvents incorporating LiAsF₆ as the solute as electrolytes in secondary lithium batteries. From —10 to 30 °C, the conductivities of EC/2-MeTHF are higher than those of 2-MeTHF and EC/propylene carbonate (PC). For lithium-on-lithium cycling in a half cell, the FOM (figure of merit) of lithium in EC/2-MeTHF has a value 2.2 to 2.7 times higher than that in 2-MeTHF and EC/PC. A coin cell of Li/amorphous V₂O ₅-P₂O₅ with EC/2-MeTHF clearly exhibits higher capacity and longer cycle life than cells with 2-MeTHF or EC/PC. It is concluded that EC/2-MeTHF is a promising electrolyte system for secondary lithium battery applications.     

Incentive‐rewarding mechanism to stimulate activities in social networking services

We have developed an incentive‐rewarding mechanism that stimulates activities in social networking services (SNSs), including content uploading and link establishment. We particularly focus on changing the reward assignment ratio based on the different risks users perceive when uploading content with different privacy settings: public‐open and friend‐limited. Learning‐based simulation allowed us to observe that SNS activity, which we measured as the amount of browsed content within a certain period, can be controlled by a rewarding assignment ratio. We then analyzed how the amount of uploaded content and the increase of established links affect SNS activity. Results suggested that the optimal reward assignment ratio to maximize SNS activity changes depending on the total amount of available reward resources. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Power reduction techniques for a 1-Mb ECL-CMOS SRAM with an accesstime of 550 ps and an operating frequency of 900 MHz

This paper describes power reduction circuit techniques in an ultra-high-speed emitter-coupled logic (ECL)-CMOS SRAM. Introduction of a 0.25-μm MOS transistor allows a Y decoder and a bit-line driver to be composed of CMOS circuits, resulting in a power reduction of 34%. Moreover, a variable-impedance load has been proposed to reduce cycle time. A 1-Mb ECL-CMOS SRAM was developed by using these circuit techniques and 0.2-μm BiCMOS technology. The fabricated SRAM has an ultrafast access time of 550 ps and a high operating frequency of 900 MHz with a power dissipation of 43 W