DCT/IDCT processor for HDTV developed with dsp silicon compiler

This article presents a discrete cosine transform (DCT) processor for high definition television (HDTV) by using an extended version of DSP Silicon Compiler. The extension is mainly concerned with module generation functions. A matrix-vector product module composed of multiply-accumulators (MACs) is newly added to the silicon compiler. The compiler accomplishes placement of leaf-cells and routing between the cells, referring to a prototype layout for the MAC. The prototype, which consists of a Booth multiplier and a carry look ahead adder, is carefully designed to attain high operation speed. The processor developed by the silicon compiler carries out 8×8 DCT and its inverse transform (IDCT). In order to evaluate the newly extended functions in the compiler, the architecture employed for the processor is based on the matrix-vector product method. By using DSP Silicon Compiler and 0.8 µm triple metal CMOS technology, the DCT processor is easily implemented with error-free environment and achieves a 50MHz data rate, which meets Japanese HDTV base line signal processing. The chip is implemented on a 12.80×12.57mm ² area.     

Valency states of Yb, Eu, Dy and Ti ions in Li2B4O7 glasses

Absorption and emission spectra of Eu and Dy, Yb and Ti ions in Li₂B₄O₇ glasses grown in oxygen and hydrogen gas atmospheres were measured for valency states and lattice-sites analysis. For the Li₂B₄O₇ glass doped with Eu²⁺, Eu³⁺ and Dy³⁺ ions which were grown in oxidizing and reducing atmospheres, absorption and emission bands due to these ions were investigated before and after γ-irradiation. For the Yb³⁺-doped Li₂B₄O₇ glass, a weak, broad band was observed near the sharp 976.3 nm absorption band. The origin of this band is discussed in comparison with other glasses. Moreover, irradiation experiments using γ-rays were also performed in order to investigate the possibility of valency change of Yb ions. It was found that Ti⁴⁺ ions, which are produced under oxidizing atmosphere, change to Ti³⁺ ions after γ-irradiation with a dose of 10⁵ Gy. An additional absorption band observed at about 500 nm is due to the Ti³⁺ ions accompanied by charge-compensating vacancy and does not give any emission.     

Utilizing nanotechnology and novel materials and concepts for advanced thermoelectric and thermal management technology development

Semiconductors - A review is given on some investigations to enhance ZT through very effective selective scattering of phonons from bottom-up nanostructuring methods. Novel concepts are also being...     

A study on economic load dispatch based on power flow constraint with the N‐1 criterion considering correlation among wind farms

This paper presents a new method of economic load dispatch (ELD) for preventing the overload on transmission lines with the N‐1 criterion in power systems penetrated with a large number of wind farms (WFs) from a stochastic perspective. There is a possibility that uncertain output variations in WFs according to the wind speed change cause overloading of the transmission lines. Furthermore, since the output variations in WFs can be expressed by stochastic models, the occurrence of the overload must be also assessed by stochastic means considering the operation of power systems. With the N‐1 criterion, when the overloading probability is over a predefined acceptable value, the power flow must be resized by changing the load dispatch so that the overloading probability becomes below the predefined acceptable value. Hence, in this paper, we develop a new methodology regarding ELD which can satisfy the N‐1 criterion under the uncertainty of output variations in WFs by Monte Carlo simulation considering correlation among WFs. © 2013 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Bearing damage evolution of a pinned joint in CFRP laminates under repeated tensile loading

A mechanical pinned joint in the CFRP laminates such as [0/±45/90]_3S, [90/±45/0]_3S, [0/±45/90]_2S and [90/±45/0]_2s is loaded statically and cyclically to finally obtain the critical condition for fatigue. It is derived that in the static loading, the critical damage that yields shear matrix crack is kink and the critical condition to the final failure is the appearance of kink in every inner 0° layer and that in the fatigue loading within the moderate load, the critical damage that yields shear matrix crack is almost always kink-like damage along the collapse front and at high load it is rather kink. Next, the non-elastic elongation of a joint at the maximum load subtracted by the one at 10th cycle is focused on and its capability is figured out for various stacking sequences. The critical value U_NE,F^* for the elongation rate change to the final fatigue failure is around 50–65 μm in the present material. The critical condition to the final fatigue failure and corresponding to U_NE,F^* is roughly the appearance of mostly kink-like damage in every inner 0° layer.     

Mg-mediated Copolycondensation of α,α-Dibromotoluene with Bifunctional Electrophiles

Copolycondensation of α,α-dibromotoluene (1) with α,α‘-dibromo-p-xylylene (2) was found to proceed in the presence of excess Mg via nucleophilic substitution of in situ generated Grignard reagents to Br-bearing benzylic carbons. The use of dichlorodimethylsilane (3) and 1,6-dibromohexane (4) as a comonomer in the ternary copolycondensation with 1 and 2 was effective to give higher molecular weight polymers by improving their solubility. In the series of the copolycondensation, the copolymer with the highest M _n of 8480 was obtained in a 41% yield by the reaction of a feed ratio of [1]:[2]:[4] = 1:1:1 in THF at room temperature.     

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.     

Application of a GC-MS method using deuterated fatty acids for tracingcis-vaccenic acid biosynthesis in kaki pulp

A gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric method using [2,2-²H₂]fatty acids has been developed to trace the biosynthesis ofcis-vaccenic (cis-11-octadecenoic) acid in higher plants. The deuterated fatty acids and other unlabeled fatty acids in the biosynthetic reaction mixture were converted into bis(methylthio) derivatives and analyzed by mass chromatography. The principle of this method was based on the shift of key fragment ions (containing two deuterium atoms) due to the cleavage between the methylthio-substituted carbons. The labeled compounds were detected by the m/z values which shifted 2 mass units from those of the corresponding unlabeled compounds and estimated by a calibration curve based on the peak areas of the key fragment ions. For metabolic experiments, a homogenate fraction was prepared from the pulp part of maturing kaki (Diospyros kaki) fruit and incubated with ammonium [2,2-²H₂]palmitoleate (cis-9-hexadecenoate) or [2,2-²H₂]palmitoleoyl-CoA. The incubation resulted in the formation of detectable amounts of isotopically-labeledcis-vaccenic acid containing two deuterium atoms at the carbon chain between the double bond and the carboxyl group. This experimental evidence proved thatcis-vaccenic acid was formed from palmitoleic acid by chain elongation.