A measurement‐based performance evaluation method for IP networks and its implementation

In recent years, IP networks have become increasingly complex and the range of network applications has widened. As a result, the need for experimental evaluation of application performance has increased. We introduce a measurement‐based performance evaluation method that combines a function to generate various patterns of application traffic with one to measure end‐to‐end network performance at the application level. For our method, we also propose traffic models of various applications that can represent the characteristics of these applications, for example, the burstiness of traffic. This method has already been implemented as a benchmarking tool on UNIX operating systems. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Analysis of micro--macro material properties and mechanical effects of damaged material containing periodically distributed elliptical microcracks

The existence of numerous microcracks causes changes in the stiffness or fracture toughness of materials. In this paper, the manifestations of mechanical properties in the damaged materials caused by the microcracks are evaluated by the present homogenization method based on the superposition method together with the VNA solution. Moreover, it is known that the stress concentration at the macrocrack tip decreases due to the stress relaxation effect caused by the existence of the microcracks. In order to evaluate the manifestations of mechanical behavior, the mechanical effects of the existence of the microcracks on the macrocrack, the component separation method for mixed-mode stress intensity factors of the macrocrack in the damaged materials is newly developed in this paper. Various numerical analyses are successfully conducted for the two topics, the mechanical properties of the damaged materials and the mechanical behavior of the macrocrack in the damaged materials.     

Lipid-coated microdroplet array for in vitro protein synthesis

Monitoring complex biological assays such as in vitro protein synthesis over long periods in micrometer-sized cavities of poly(dimethyl siloxane) (PDMS) microfluidic devices requires a strategy that solves the adsorption and absorption problems on PDMS surfaces. In this study, we developed a technique that instantaneously arrays aqueous microdroplets coated with a phospholipid membrane within a single microfluidic device. The simple lipid bilayer coating effectively inhibits the adsorption of proteins and DNA, whereas the encapsulation of the droplet reduces the area in contact with the PDMS surface, resulting in decreased absorption in part. Although the size becomes smaller during the first few hours, a lipid-coated microdroplet array demonstrated a temporal stability of more than 20 h and a size uniformity of CV 3% in the device. Furthermore, we succeeded in expressing a green fluorescent protein by confining an in vitro translation system in the microdroplets, which was confirmed by scanning the fluorescence spectrum of the droplets, demonstrating that the lipid coat secured the synthetic reaction from the adsorption problem.     

低温燃料展望

阐述了低温燃料的发展现状和应用前景，低温燃料具有热效率高，燃烧时产生的污染少等优点。随着石油资源的日趋枯竭和人们对环境保护要求的日益提高，代温燃料在能源消费结构中所占的比例在不断增大。     

Lipid Bilayers on a Picoliter Microdroplet Array for Rapid Fluorescence Detection of Membrane Transport

This paper describes picoliter‐sized lipid bilayer chambers and their theoretical model for the rapid detection of membrane transport. To prepare the chambers, semispherical aqueous droplets are patterned on a hydrophilic/hydrophobic substrate and then brought into contact with another aqueous droplet in lipid‐dispersed organic solvent, resulting in the formation of the lipid bilayers on the semispherical droplets. The proposed method implements the lipid bilayer chambers with 25‐fold higher ratio of lipid membrane area (S) to chamber volume (V) compared to the previous spherical droplet chambers. Using these chambers, we are able to trace the time‐course of Ca²⁺ influx through α‐hemolysin pores by a fluorescent indicator. Moreover, we confirm that the detection time of the substrate transport is inversely proportional to the S/V ratio of the developed chambers, which is consistent with the simulation results based on the developed model. Our chambers and model might be useful for rapid functional analyses of membrane transport phenomena.     

Optimal configuration of power generating systems in isolated island with renewable energy

In isolated islands, usually diesel generators supply electric power. However, there are problems, e.g., a lack of fossil fuel, environmental pollution etc. So, isolated island, e.g. Miyako island, installs renewable energy power production plants. However, renewable energy power production plants are very costly. This paper presents an optimal configuration of power system in isolated island installing renewable energy power production plants. The generating system consists of diesel generators, wind turbine generators, PV system and batteries. Using the proposed method, operation cost can be reduced about 10% in comparison with diesel generators only from simulation results.     

应用梯度提升树的小区域无线网络多标签流量预测

当前无线网络流量地理分布不均且可用网络资源有限,因而开展拆闲补忙工作极为必要。为合理投放无线网络资源以保证网络性能,提出了一种针对小区域范围的多标签流量预测算法。该算法结合历史流量信息,根据无线用户偏好特性建立多标签流量预测模型,并通过梯度提升树算法得到预测结果。仿真结果表明,相比于广泛应用的移动平均自回归(Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average, ARIMA)和神经网络预测方法,多标签预测模型在对小区域突发性流量的预测上具有很大的优越性。     

Maximum potential of PV installation based on an energy system planning model considering a distribution voltage constraint

As the key solution for energy sustainability this decade, the growth of installing photovoltaic (PV) systems has dramatically increased. However, the high penetration of PV systems can cause a voltage variation problem in a distribution grid. This paper proposes a model for evaluating the maximum potential for installing PV systems in an urban area under a bus voltage constraint. A PV system is considered as an energy system alternative that replaces a conventional system. Regarding the power variation, it is necessary to add a parameter that is used to evaluate the variation of PV systems in terms of a standard deviation to the PV systems' electric load curve. The installations of PV and conventional systems are determined as share solutions for each load area along a distribution network. Total power loads and variations in each load area are input to a load flow calculation to obtain each bus voltage and confirm the voltage constraint. Finally, the total PV system installations over the whole network area is maximized. The alternative PV system with battery installation is introduced to validate the model evaluation when comparing with a typical PV system without a battery, which has larger power variation. Furthermore, adjusting the sending voltage at a substation to increase the PV installation is validated using the proposed model. Copyright © 2009 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.