All-optical wavelength converter based on Er-doped laser cavity andintracavity LD amplifier

An optical wavelength converter is proposed based on a laser cavity that has a laser-diode amplifier as an optically driven gain modulator and an Er-doped, slow-response gain medium. The device converts ASK signal wavelengths over ~8.7 nm. Though the converted NRZ data signal is inverted, it is amplified by 18 dB with its extinction ratios improved to nearly unity. Although the data rate converted in the experiment is no more than 0.5 Mb/s, high-gain planar-waveguide technology may reduce the cavity length and increase the data rate     

Distinction of Leu and Ile Using a Ruthenium(II) complex by MALDI-LIFT-TOF/TOF-MS analysis

The novel N-terminal labeling method using a ruthenium(II) complex derivative characteristically indicated a(n) and d(n) (N-terminal) fragment ions in high sensitivity by MS/MS analysis (MALDI-LIFT or ESI-CID). Although these fragment ions depended on a fragmentation process by MS/MS analytical methods to some degree, each case indicated similar side-chain cleavage patterns. The labeling method allows accurate distinction of amino acid residues by MS/MS analysis even if the residues are structural isomers such as leucine and isoleucine. The method was applied to long-chain peptides and provided easy and rapid N-terminal sequencing.     

In-line type micropulse lidar with an annular beam: experiment

An in-line type compact micropulse lidar (MPL) with an annular beam was developed for low-altitude cloud measurement. An optical circulator and a couple of axicon prisms for an annular beam were installed on the lidar optics. The advantage of using the in-line MPL is its ability to obtain a near-range measurement with a narrow field of view of 0.1 mrad and to obtain a depolarization measurement of the orthogonally polarized echoes caused by ice crystals of a low-altitude cloud. The total insertion loss of the lidar optics was 3 dB. Detectors such as avalance photodiode detectors can be operated in an analog mode near the breakdown voltage because of the high isolation of the optical circulator. The ideal lidar echo variation from the nearest distance was verified by measuring the mountain echoes at various distances. The depolarization measurement of a low-altitude ice cloud was also demonstrated.     

Road traffic accidents and the Abbreviated Injury Scale (ais) in Japan

Although in Japan the number of casualties from road traffic accidents decreased substantially during a period of improvement of safety measures, in recent years it has remained rather constant. To decrease accidents still further it is necessary to investigate the circumstances of road traffic accidents and the severity of resulting casualties in detail. For this purpose 167,721 cases of road traffic accident casualties occurring between February and April 1979, throughout Japan were analyzed. (1) It was found that 74.2% of all the cases suffered injuries corresponding to AIS-1; 30% of these involved neck injuries. (2) There were 2,654 fatal cases, 67% of which involved head injuries, chiefly cerebral contusion, cranial base fracture, and intracranial hemorrhage. There were fatal cases in the categories of AIS-3 or below which are generally considered not fatal, but those were due to complications. (3) The chief sites of injury varied according to the victim's mode of transport: in an automobile the neck was the site most frequently injured; on a motorcycle the legs and head were usually involved; on a bicycle or walking the head and legs were most at risk. (4) Injuries to pedestrians often fell under the severer AIS-4 or higher codes and constituted 43% of total deaths. (5) Accidents with automobiles changing lanes tended to cause serious injuries and many deaths. Other characteristics of road traffic accidents in Japan are analyzed and discussed.     

Ionic graft copolymerization. V. Graft copolymerization of β-propiolactone onto the trunk polymers containing carboxylic acid,sulfonic acid,and other salts

β-Propiolactone (βPL) was graft-copolymerized onto styrene–divinylbenzene copolymers containing various carboxylates or sulfonates, composed of anions and cations having different electronegativities. In parallel, the mechanism of polymerizations of βPL by relatively neutral catalysts was studied in comparison with the behaviors of graft copolymerizations. In the graft copolymerization onto the trunk polymer containing various carboxylates, a lower electronegativity of countercation favors a higher anionic polymerization activity and the order of rate of polymerization coincides with that of anionic activities of catalysts. On the other hand, in the case of trunk polymer containing sulfonates, a higher electronegativity of countercation favors a cationic polymerization activity, and the order of rate of polymerization coincides with that of cationic activity of catalyst. The order of grafting efficiency at fixed total conversion coincides almost with that of anionic activity. The comparatively higher grafting efficiency in the grafting onto trunk polymer containing carboxylic acid might support an anionic graft copolymerization mechanism by carboxyl anion. The two following mechanisms were proposed for the initiation of the polymerization by the trunk polymer containing sodium sulfonate, in which acrylic acid is transformed from βPL.     

Sex determination with a discriminant function analysis of deciduous teeth size in plaster models

Plaster models of the teeth of 3-year-old Japanese children (96 males, 98 females) were used to record the crown length, crown width and crown thickness of 5 maxillary and 5 mandibular deciduous teeth (30 measurement values). These measurements were used to devise a number of sex determination formulae. A sex-determination formula using all 30 values was calculated. Furthermore, a number of practical formulae were derived from only the crown width and crown thickness values because the deciduous teeth wear in 4 years and older children rapidly progress, making the crown length measurement unreliable. These formulae were calculated for the maxillary teeth alone and mandibular teeth alone. The formulae based on only the crown width or thickness were also calculated for both maxillary and the mandibular teeth. A step-wise discriminant analysis was then used to ascertain the most reliable measurements and a practical formula subsequently devised. The results obtained were as follows: 1. The mean value for each measurement was greater in males than in females. 2. Significant differences in the values recorded were seen in 28 out of the 30 measurements taken. The measurement items not exhibiting these significant differences were the crown width of the maxillary lateral incisor and the crown thickness of the mandibular second molar. 3. The accuracy rates for the sex-determination analysis and the step-wise sex determination analysis calculated using all 30 values were 78.6% and 75.7%, respectively. 4. The accuracy ranges for the modified sex-determination formulae and the associated step-wise sex determination analyses were 70.6-78.4% and 67.0-76.8%, respectively.     

A complex baseband platform for spatial-temporal mobile radio channel simulations

Joint spatial-temporal signal processing has been recognized as the key to reducing the effects of the intersymbol and cochannel interference seen in very high bit-rate mobile radio communications systems. Developing hardware simulators that can simulate mobile radio propagation scenarios in time and space domains is essential for evaluating the real-time performance of spatial-temporal signal processing schemes. This paper outlines a complex baseband platform developed for spatial-temporal mobile radio channel simulations. The platform consists of a complex baseband fading/array response simulator, a digital signal processor (DSP) board, and a general-purpose parameter estimator that uses systolic array implementation of the recursive least square (RLS) algorithm. Results of experiments conducted using the developed platform are presented to confirm the proper operation of the system.