The luminance resolution characteristics of multi‐primary‐color display

Abstract— In this paper, the resolution characteristics of multi‐primary‐color (MPC) display systems are analyzed. That four‐primary‐color (4PC) displays can increase the effective resolution for achromatic images in the luminance domain by a factor of two as compared to conventional RGB‐based displays with MPC‐specialized subpixel rendering, which is proposed in this paper, is demonstrated. Five‐ and six‐primary‐color (5PC and 6PC) display systems can reproduce denser luminance data than conventional RGB‐based display systems and solve a problem of MPC displays, viz. an increase of production costs and a decrease in the aperture ratio caused by increasing the number of subpixels in one pixel. This is an essential advantage of MPC display systems, which is related to the combination of the proposed color‐filter architecture and image processing. Thus, a completely new advantage of MPC display systems, in addition to their well‐known capabilities of color reproduction and power saving, is proposed.     

A new current balancer in single‐phase three‐wire secondary distribution feeders using the correlation coefficients

This paper proposes a new current balancer in single‐phase three‐wire secondary distribution systems using the correlation coefficients. The components of the load currents correlative to the primary side voltage waveform, which correspond to the active currents, are detected in each feeder, then the nonactive and unbalanced‐active components are compensated on the source side. The balanced currents with unity power factor are obtained in each feeder. The basic principle of the proposed method is discussed in detail, and then confirmed by digital computer simulation. A prototype experimental system is constructed and tested. Experimental results demonstrate that the balanced source currents with unity power factor are obtained in spite of unbalanced load currents. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 169(1): 50–58, 2009; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20843     

Effectiveness and biocompatibility of a novel biological adhesive application for repair of meniscal tear on the avascular zone

We have investigated the effectiveness and safety of a newly developed biological adhesive for repair of meniscal tear. The adhesive was composed of disuccinimidyl tartrate (DST) as a crosslinker and human serum albumin (HSA) as a hardener. To determine adequate concentration, bonding strength was measured using a tensiometer 5 min after applying the adhesive on the avascular zone tear of porcine meniscus; it was compared with the strengths of commercially available cyanoacrylate-based and fibrin-based adhesives. In vivo examination was performed using Japanese white rabbits, creating longitudinal tears on the avascular zone of meniscus and applying DST–HSA adhesive. Three months after operation the rabbits were sacrificed and tension test and histological evaluation were performed. Bonding strength was measured in three porcine meniscus groups: (i) only suturing, (ii) suturing after applying the adhesive on surface and (iii) suturing using an adhesive-soaked suture. The optimum concentrations were 0.1 mmol of DST and 42 w/v% of HAS. Bonding strength was greatest with cyanoacrylate-based adhesive, followed by DST–HSA adhesive, and fibrin-based adhesive. No inflammation was observed in the synovium or surrounding tissues 3 months after using the DST–HSA adhesive. Bonding strength was greatest with DST–HSA adhesive-soaked suturing group (77 ± 6 N), followed by suturing only group (61 ± 5 N) and surface adhesive application group (60 ± 8 N). The newly developed DST-HSA adhesive is considered safe and may be effective in enforcement of bonding of avascular zone tear of the meniscus.     

Heat treatment of electrospun silicate fiber substrates enhances cellular adhesion and proliferation

Synthetic scaffolds support cell attachment in vitro. We prepared ultra-fine silicate fibers using the sol–gel process and electrospinning, heated the fibers to 500 °C and investigated their effects on the behavior of human hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2) cells. Alterations in surface composition following heat treatment improved cell adhesion and influenced cell migration.     

Effect of the addition of a small amount of vanadium on the photocatalytic activities of N- and Si- co-doped titanias under visible-light irradiation

Si-doped titanias with a Si/Ti charged ratio of 0.2 was prepared by thermal reactions of titanium tetraisopropoxide and tetraethyl orthosilicate in 1,4-butanediol at 300 °C (glycothermal reaction) and N- and Si- co-doped titanias were prepared by heating the thus-obtained Si-doped titanias in an NH₃ flow. N- and Si- co-doped titanias had a stronger absorption in a visible light region of 400–550 nm, and exhibited high photocatalytic activities for decomposition of acetaldehyde under visible-light irradiation. In this study, N- and Si- co-doped titanias were further modified with vanadium by an impregnation method using an ammonium vanadate solution, and the obtained catalysts were characterized by XRD, BET surface area measurement, UV-vis, and ESR. Photocatalytic decomposition of acetaldehyde using the V-loaded N- and Si- co-doped titanias was examined and it was demonstrated that a very small amount of V-loading (V/Ti = 0.0001–0.001) significantly enhanced the photocatalytic activity under visible-light irradiation.     

Large‐scale magnetic field analysis by the hybrid finite element‐boundary element method combined with the fast multipole method

This paper describes a large‐scale magnetic field analysis by means of the hybrid finite element‐boundary element (FE‐BE) method. The hybrid FE‐BE method is well‐suited for solving open electromagnetic field problems that comprise movement, nonlinear media, and eddy current. In general, however, large memory and computational costs are required due to the dense blocks in the system matrix generated by the BE part of the hybrid formulation. In order to overcome the above difficulties, we introduce the fast multipole method (FMM) to the hybrid FE‐BE formulation developed by ourselves. Furthermore, we propose a novel preconditioning technique suitable for the hybrid FE‐BE method with the FMM. Some numerical results that demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach are also presented. ©2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 162(1): 73–80, 2008; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20508     

Electromigration lifetimes and void growth at low cumulative failure probability

We have investigated electromigration (EM) lifetimes and void formation at cumulative failure probability of around 50 ppm. We carried out EM test in damascene Cu lines using sudden-death test structures. Cumulative failure probability of the test ranges from 50 ppm to 90%. To investigate the void nucleation and growth behaviour, Cu microstructures were investigated by using scanning transmission electron microscopy (S-TEM) and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) technique. EM lifetime shows strong correlation with the void nucleation site and the void volume. In addition, the worst case for EM lifetime is that wide angle grain boundary exists just under the via as a void nucleation site.     

Durability of antisticking layer against heat in nanoimprinting evaluated using scanning probe microscopy

In nanoimprint lithography (NIL), a mold is coated with an antisticking layer for preventing resin from adhering to it. A fluorinated self-assembled monolayer (F-SAM) is mainly used as the antisticking layer. The temperature of the mold in thermal NIL increases around the glass transition temperature of the resin. It is therefore important to assess the durability of the antisticking layer against heat. We evaluated the releasing effect of F-SAMs with and without annealing by using measurements obtained from the surface free energy and scanning probe microscopy (SPM). Furthermore, we examined the surface chemical composition and the surface morphology of F-SAMs with and without annealing using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). From these results, we confirmed that the releasing effect of F-SAM deteriorated due to thermal decomposition when annealing over 500 °C. However, we found that F-SAMs annealed at 500 °C had a sufficiently large releasing effect in nanoimprinting.