Seismic Retrofit of Hollow Rectangular Bridge Columns

The seismic performance of rectangular hollow bridge columns is a significant issue of the high-speed rail project in Taiwan. The flexural ductility and shear capacity of such columns with the configuration of lateral reinforcement used in Taiwan have been studied recently. This paper reports that hollow rectangular bridge columns retrofitted with fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) sheets were tested under a constant axial load and a cyclically reversed horizontal load to investigate their seismic behavior, including flexural ductility, dissipated energy, and shear capacity. An analytical model was also developed to predict the moment-curvature curve of sections and the load-displacement relationship of columns. Based on the test results, the seismic behavior of such columns will be presented. The test results were also compared to the proposed analytical model. It was found that the ductility factors of the tested piers are in the range from 3.4 to 6.3, and the proposed analytical model can predict the load-displacement relationship of such columns with acceptable accuracy. All in all, FRP sheets can effectively improve both the ductility factor and shear capacity of hollow rectangular bridge columns.     

Lithium plasma emitter for collisionless magnetized plasma experiment

This paper presents a newly developed lithium plasma emitter, which can provide quiescent and low-temperature collisionless conditions for magnetized plasma experiments. This plasma emitter generates thermal emissions of lithium ions and electrons to produce a lithium plasma. Lithium type beta-eucryptite and lanthanum-hexaboride (LaB(6)) powders were mixed and directly heated with a tungsten heater to synthesize ion and electron emissions. As a result, a plasma with a diameter of ~15 cm was obtained in a magnetic mirror configuration. The typical range of electron density was 10(12)-10(13) m(-3) and that of electron temperature was 0.1-0.8 eV with the emitter operation temperature of about 1500 K. The amplitude fluctuations for the plasma density were lower than 1%.     

Process quality improvement of a qualitative response with dynamic characteristic

To achieve quality improvement in manufacturing environments, the design of experiment (DOE) and Taguchi methods are two efficiency approaches to address such problems. Applying those methods to resolve quality improvement frequently focuses on the measurable quality response (or quantitative response). However, the complexity of products or processes is gradually increased and due to the limitation of measuring equipment, the quality response could not be directly measured. Visual inspection or measurement is then used to judge the quality for nonmeasurable response (or qualitative response). Basically, for assessing the quality of a qualitative response, it is initially divided into several classes or ordered categories. As for customers’ requirements gradually changing and applications’ flexibility gradually increasing, a dynamic structure for this process will be another important consideration for manufacturers. That is, it causes the work of quality improvement to be dynamically analyzed. Dr. Taguchi had proposed a dynamic method to analyze such issues. However, only several studies focused on quality improvement of a qualitative response during the static characteristic. Parameter optimization approaches were seldom proposed to address quality improvement of a qualitative response with the dynamic characteristic. Therefore, in this study, we proposed an integrated parameter-optimization approach to resolve quality improvement of a qualitative response with dynamic characteristics. An illustrative example, quality improvement of lead twist during the stamping process for lead frame manufacturing at Science-based park in Taiwan, is employed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.     

VEGF and FGF2 Improve Revascularization,Survival, and Oocyte Quality of Cryopreserved,Subcutaneously-Transplanted Mouse Ovarian Tissues

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) on revascularization, survival, and oocyte quality of cryopreserved, subcutaneously-transplanted mouse ovarian tissue. Autologous subcutaneous transplantation of vitrified-thawed mouse ovarian tissues treated with (experimental group) or without (control group) VEGF and FGF2 was performed. After transplantation to the inguinal region for two or three weeks, graft survival, angiogenesis, follicle development, and oocyte quality were examined after gonadotropin administration. VEGF coupled with FGF2 (VEGF/FGF2) promoted revascularization and significantly increased the survival rate of subcutaneously-transplanted cryopreserved ovarian tissues compared with untreated controls. The two growth factors did not show long-term effects on the ovarian grafts. In contrast to the untreated ovarian grafts, active folliculogenesis was revealed as the number of follicles at various stages and of mature oocytes in antral follicles after gonadotropin administration were remarkably higher in the VEGF/FGF2-treated groups. Although the fertilization rate was similar between the VEGF/FGF2 and control groups, the oocyte quality was much better in the VEGF/FGF2-treated grafts as demonstrated by the higher ratio of blastocyst development. Introducing angiogenic factors, such as VEGF and FGF2, may be a promising strategy to improve revascularization, survival, and oocyte quality of cryopreserved, subcutaneously-transplanted mouse ovarian tissue.     

Part II of the Special Issue on 3rd International Conference on Engineering and Technology Innovation (ICETI 2014), held in Kenting,Taiwan Oct 31–Nov 2, 2014

Microsystem Technologies -     

An experimental model of Chinese textual database

Abstract

A textual database deals with retrieval and manipulation of documents. It allows a user to search on‐line complete documents or parts of documents rather than attributes of documents. Resembling a formatted database which uses a data model as its underlying structure, a textual database has to base its development upon a document model. In this paper, a document model, called the ECHO model, is proposed. The ECHO model provides a document representation, called the ECHO structure, for expressing documents and operations on the representation that serve to express queries and manipulations on documents. It has the ability to provide multiple document structures for a document, a flexible search unit for retrieving textual information, and a subrange search on a textual database. In addition, the ECHO structure is relatively easy to maintain. An architecture of a textual database based on the ECHO model is also proposed. In order to improve the query performance, a refined character inversion method, called ARCIM, is proposed as the text‐access method of the Chinese textual database. The ARCIM can retrieve texts faster than a simple inversion method and requires less space overhead.     

Efficient development of cycle time response surfaces using progressive simulation metamodeling

In semiconductor manufacturing, hot lots are to provide marketing and engineering with extra flexibility regarding delivery lead times, and in turn enhance its competitive advantages against other companies. On the other hand, hot lots are among major sources of disruption of the smoothness of the manufacturing flow. They can lead to a significant increase of cycle time of normal lots, and in turn result in delayed delivery times and serious service deteriorations. Due to the complex nature of semiconductor manufacturing, evaluating the impact of hot lots on the cycle time of normal lots presents major challenges. In this paper, we propose a methodology, called progressive simulation metamodelling (PSM), that allows for an efficient development of the response surface between the cycle time of normal lots and the percentage of hot lots in semiconductor manufacturing. The response surface generated by the proposed PSM is like an easy-to-use analytical model, but with the fidelity of simulation that takes into account all important manufacturing details. The specially-designed mechanisms, including identifying the critical region and sequentially adding design points in the critical region, further grants PSM computational advantages compared to the traditional response surface method. An empirical study conducted in collaboration with a semiconductor company validates the viability of PSM in real settings.     

A study on the formation of a measurement scale for the environmental quality of Taiwan’s long-term care institutions by the Delphi method

This study used a two-round modified Delphi technique with a questionnaire survey in order to reach a consensus for the questionnaire; the survey was conducted from September to December 2009. The six indicators for the environmental quality of long-term care institutions in Taiwan are (1) indoor environmental quality, (2) safety equipment for the prevention and management of disasters occurring in residents?? daily lives, (3) provision for assistive devices for residents?? daily use, (4) provision for privacy and individualized space, (5) provision for comfortable and decorated indoor environments, and (6) provision for social interaction space. The scale included 34 items with an acceptable number of panel members and acceptable construct validity. Panel members all highly approved of Indicators 1, 2, and 6. Although they approved of Indicator 3, they suggested that caregivers at institutions should replace the functions of living assistive devices. They approved of Indicator 5; however, they questioned the method for providing comfortable and decorated environments. They approved of Indicator 4; however, they suggested that private space need not be provided in the living room of the institution. In terms of long-term care institution environments in Taiwan, Indicators 1, 2, and 6 were important for protecting residents?? physical and psychological well-being and improving their social interactions. Indicator 3, although important, could be directly replaced by caregivers. Indicator 5 required more implementation methods, while Indicator 4, the living room of the institution, was considered unnecessary.     

Lattice relations and solidification of the complex regular eutectic (Cr,Fe)-(Cr,Fe)<Subscript>23</Subscript>C<Subscript>6</Subscript>

The eutectic (Cr,Fe)-(Cr,Fe)₂₃C₆ showed a triaxial fishbone structure and could be categorized as a “complex regular structure”. In this study, the lattice relations of the fishbone (Cr,Fe)₂₃C₆ were examined and the solidification process was observed using a transmission electron microscope and a confocal laser scanning microscope. For one of the three fish bones in a eutectic cell, parallel (Cr,Fe)₂₃C₆ lamellas at one side of the spine had the same lattice direction, as did those in the (Cr,Fe) phase. The lattices of neighboring (Cr,Fe)₂₃C₆ and (Cr,Fe) phases were not coherent. Lamellar (Cr,Fe)₂₃C₆ on opposite sides of a spine had different lattice directions, and their lattice boundary was in the spine. By using the confocal laser scanning microscope, the solidification of lamellar eutectic structure could be observed. At the low cooling rate of 5 o C·min^-1, parallel lamellas would grow thick blocks instead of thin plates. To obtain a thin lamellar eutectic structure, the cooling rate should be higher, like the rate in welding.