Influence of 3‐D cross‐talk on qualified viewing spaces in two‐ and multi‐view autostereoscopic displays

Abstract— To estimate the qualified viewing spaces for two‐ and multi‐view autostereoscopic displays, the relationship between image quality (image comfort, annoying ghost image, depth perception) and various pairings between 3‐D cross‐talk in the left and right views are studied subjectively using a two‐view autostereoscopic display and test charts for the left and right views with ghost images due to artificial 3‐D cross‐talk. The artificial 3‐D cross‐talk was tuned to simulate the view in the intermediate zone of the viewing spaces. It was shown that the stereoscopic images on a two‐view autostereoscopic display cause discomfort when they are observed by the eye in the intermediate zone between the viewing spaces. This is because the ghost image due to large 3‐D cross‐talk in the intermediate zone elicits different depth perception from the depth induced by the original images for the left and right views, so the observer's depth perception is confused. Image comfort is also shown to be better for multi‐views, especially the width of the viewing space, which is narrower than the interpupillary distance, where the parallax of the cross‐talking image is small.     

Alkali Magnesium/Zinc Silicate Glasses with Low Rayleigh Scattering

The Rayleigh scattering of silicate glasses (M₂O-RO-SiO₂, M: Na and K, R: Mg, Ca, and Zn) was measured. Soda magnesium silicate (NMS) glasses exhibited the smallest scattering intensity. It is comparable with that of soda aluminosilicate (NAS) glass, one of the candidates for use in fabricating ultralow-loss fibers. The scattering intensity decreased with decreasing SiO₂ content, and NMS glasses with 60 mol% of SiO₂ are still stable against crystallization. It is concluded that NMS is a new candidate for ultralowloss fiber use.     

A practical operator support scheme and its application to safety-ensured object break using dual-arm machinery

A practical operator support system for disaster response work using construction machinery is applied to object-break operations using a dual-arm machine. An object-break operation, which separates an object into two different parts by applying massive pulling force, requires skillful force and trajectory controls. Operators typically have trouble visually perceiving the movement of the manipulator because the target object is strongly restrained. As a result, after the object has been separated into two pieces, the operator may continue performing lever operations because of unavoidable perception reaction time and the manipulator may collide with the surrounding environment. A control input cancellation system based on object-break identification is proposed to reduce the time difference between the object break and operation stoppage. A support system for disaster response situations must be safe and efficient and accommodate operators with various skill levels; thus, common physical phenomena related to the object breakage should be exploited. The system cancels control inputs to stop the movement of the manipulator when an object-break flag is detected, which is defined as a situation where the force applied to each joint of a manipulator decreases rapidly when a lever operation and load on the inside of the grapple are detected. Demolition experiments were conducted using a hydraulic dual-arm system. The results indicate that the displacement of the end-point after the object breaks is greatly decreased and the completion time of the task is reduced as well.     

Learning to generate proactive and reactive behavior using a dynamic neural network model with time-varying variance prediction mechanism

This paper discusses a possible neurodynamic mechanism that enables self-organization of two basic behavioral modes, namely a ‘proactive mode’ and a ‘reactive mode,’ and of autonomous switching between these modes depending on the situation. In the proactive mode, actions are generated based on an internal prediction, whereas in the reactive mode actions are generated in response to sensory inputs in unpredictable situations. In order to investigate how these two behavioral modes can be self-organized and how autonomous switching between the two modes can be achieved, we conducted neurorobotics experiments by using our recently developed dynamic neural network model that has a capability to learn to predict time-varying variance of the observable variables. In a set of robot experiments under various conditions, the robot was required to imitate other’s movements consisting of alternating predictable and unpredictable patterns. The experimental results showed that the robot controlled by the neural network model was able to proactively imitate predictable patterns and reactively follow unpredictable patterns by autonomously switching its behavioral modes. Our analysis revealed that variance prediction mechanism can lead to self-organization of these abilities with sufficient robustness and generalization capabilities.     

Effect of eicosapentaenoic acid ethyl ester on proteinuria of streptozotocin-induced diabetes mellitus in rats

Streptozotocin (45 mg/kg) was intravenously administered to 7-week-old Wistar rats through their tail veins. After 11 days, the rats were divided into two groups. One group was fed a lipid-free diet (90%, w/w) plus lard (8%) and safflower oil (2%) for four weeks (Diet 1 group, n=12). The other group was fed in the same way, except that safflower oil was replaced by 90% pure eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) ethyl ester (Diet 2 group, n=13). Twenty-four-hour urine was collected just before the diets started and during the experiment at 7-day intervals. In the second and third week, the levels of proteinuria were significantly lower in the Diet 2 group than they were in the Diet 1 group. There was no significant difference in the levels of creatinine, urea nitrogen, or lipids in plasma or in body weights between the two groups after four weeks on the diets. Because Diet 2 reduced proteinuria of diabetic rats compared to Diet 1, an EPA-rich diet may retard the development of diabetic nephropathy.     

Regulation by carbohydrate and clofibric acid of palmitoyl-CoA chain elongation in the liver of rats

Regulation of palmitoyl-CoA chain elongation (PCE) and its contribution to oleic acid formation were investigated in rat liver in comparison with stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD). Hepatic PCE activity was induced by the administration of 20% wt/vol glucose or fructose in the drinking water of normal rats. In streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats, the activities of both PCE and SCD were suppressed, and fructose, but not glucose, feeding caused an increase in the activities of both enzymes. Treatment of normal rats with clofibric acid in combination with carbohydrate further increased PCE, but not SCD, acitivity. FA analysis of hepatic lipids revealed that the proportion of oleic acid (18∶1n−9) increased upon administration of carbohydrate or clofibric acid. The treatment of rats with clofibric acid in combination with carbohydrate greatly increased the proportion of 18∶1n−9. A significant correlation was observed between PCE activity and the hepatic proportion of 18∶1n−9 (r ²=0.874, Po0.01), whereas the relationship between SCD activity and the proportion of 18∶1n−9 was not significant (r ²=0.552, P>0.05). Taken together, these results suggest that carbohydrate induces PCE as well as SCD activity to increase the hepatic 18∶1 content in rat liver, and the increased PCE activity seems to be responsible for the further increase in 18∶1n−9 when carbohydrate is administered in combination with clofibric acid. FA are designated by the number of carbon atoms and double bonds     

Field emission of polycrystalline diamond films grown by microwave-plasma chemical vapor deposition. I. Effects of surface morphology of diamond

The effects of surface morphology on the field emission of non-doped polycrystalline diamond films with thicknesses ranging from 5 to 55 μm were studied. Diamond films grown by a microwave-plasma chemical vapor deposition technique had both the diamond and non-diamond components with pyramidal and angular crystalline structures. Although the average crystallite size increased with increasing the film thickness (d), the volume fraction of the non-diamond components in the films was insensitive to the film thickness. However, the turn-on electric field, F_T, (defined as the low-end electric field to emit electrons) showed a U-shape dependence on the film thickness. This U-shape dependence was explained by a model in which the emission current was controlled by Fowler–Norheim tunneling of electrons at surface of the pyramids when d was thinner than 20 μm and by carrier transport in the polycrystalline diamond film when d was thicker than 20 μm. The lowest field of 4 V/μm was obtained in the film with 20 μm thick.     

On-line monitoring system of P5CDF homologues in waste incineration plants using VUV-SPI-IT-TOFMS

It usuallytakes a few weeks to analyze dioxin concentrations and dioxin-TEQ (toxicity equivalency quantity) in fluegases from municipal solid waste (MSW) incinerators by a standard method provided by Japanese industrial standard (JIS 0311). To reduce the required time for analysis, we have developed a new on-line measuring system for furans homologues. This system is composed of a sensitive and robust vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) single-photon ionization (SPI) ion trap (IT) time-of-flight mass spectrometer (VUV-SPI-IT-TOFMS) and automatic sampling/concentrating process. In this work, pentachloro-dibenzofuran (P5CDF) was selected as an index homologue in chlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin/ furan homologues (DXNs) because its concentration and I-TEF (international toxicity equivalency factor), which are 2,3,4,7,8-P5CDF is 0.5 and 1,2,3,7,8-P5CDF is 0.05, are high and the concentration correlates closely with the total amount of dioxin-TEQ. The lowest detectable limit, 1 pg (0.001 ng-TEQ/m3 N) was demonstrated by laboratory tests. This system underwent a field test at several actual MSW plants and the tests revealed the following: (a) This system is applicable for dioxin-TEQ evaluation from actual MSW incinerators. (b) It can continuously monitor P5CDF in a fluegas for 7 months. (c) The frequency of the measurements is once every 2-6 h, depending on the concentration of P5-CDF.     

Fingerprinting localized dioxin contamination: Ichihara Anchorage case

Although concentrations of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibezofurans (PCDD/Fs; dioxins) in majority of Japanese river and ocean sediments decreased below the national environmental quality standard of 150 pg-TEQ. (g-dry sediment)(-1) by 2004, localized contamination inasmuch as 100-fold excess of the environmental quality standard has been reported at various locations including Ichihara Anchorage in northeastern Tokyo Bay. In the present study, we analyzed all mono- to octachlorinated dioxins in 12 surface sediments from Ichihara Anchorage and applied positive matrix factorization (PMF) to quantitatively fingerprintthe congener pattern and geographical distribution of a factor causing the localized contamination. A PMF-derived fingerprint attributable to dioxin impurities in pentachlorophenol (PCP) exerted more than 90% contribution to total dioxin concentrations in Ichihara Anchorage surface sediments. Although majority of Ichihara Anchorage-born dioxins were trapped at the origin, contribution of the PCP-derived dioxins in overall Tokyo Bay gradually increased toward Ichihara Anchorage, indicating the impact of localized dioxin contamination on a large proportion of Tokyo Bay. We suggest that, in addition to runoff from rice paddies (to which PCP had long been applied as herbicide) at the basin, Ichihara Anchorage serves as a significant source of PCP-derived dioxins especially in eastern Tokyo Bay.