Lumisight Table: an interactive view-dependent tabletop display

A novel tabletop display provides different images to different users surrounding the system. It can also capture users' gestures and physical objects on the tabletop. The Lumisight Table approach is based on the optical design of a special screen system composed of a building material called Lumisty and a Fresnel lens. The system combines these films and a lens with four projectors to display four different images, one for each user's view. In addition, we need appropriate input methods for this display media. In the current state of the project, we can control computers by placing physical objects on the display or placing our hands over the display. This screen system also makes it possible to use a camera to capture the appearance of the tabletop from inside of the system. Our other main idea is to develop attractive and specialized applications on the Lumisight Table, including games and applications for computer-supported cooperative-work (CSCW) environments. The projected images can be completely different from each other, or partially identical and partially different. Users can share the identical parts as public information, because all users can see it. This article is available with a short video documentary on CD-ROM.     

Illumination normalization with time-dependent intrinsic images for video surveillance

Variation in illumination conditions caused by weather, time of day, etc., makes the task difficult when building video surveillance systems of real world scenes. Especially, cast shadows produce troublesome effects, typically for object tracking from a fixed viewpoint, since it yields appearance variations of objects depending on whether they are inside or outside the shadow. In this paper, we handle such appearance variations by removing shadows in the image sequence. This can be considered as a preprocessing stage which leads to robust video surveillance. To achieve this, we propose a framework based on the idea of intrinsic images. Unlike previous methods of deriving intrinsic images, we derive time-varying reflectance images and corresponding illumination images from a sequence of images instead of assuming a single reflectance image. Using obtained illumination images, we normalize the input image sequence in terms of incident lighting distribution to eliminate shadowing effects. We also propose an illumination normalization scheme which can potentially run in real time, utilizing the illumination eigenspace, which captures the illumination variation due to weather, time of day, etc., and a shadow interpolation method based on shadow hulls. This paper describes the theory of the framework with simulation results and shows its effectiveness with object tracking results on real scene data sets.     

Satellite data visualization system for education

It is important for environment protection to monitor changes in the environment by natural and human causes. It is also important to educate the next generation on the importance of the global environment issues. Recently, it has become possible to continually monitor the global environment using various satellite sensor data. But these satellite data are used for highly specialized analysis by experts in such fields, and the data cannot easily be used by non-experts. In this paper, we propose a satellite data visualization system for educational use. In the proposed system, a gray-scale 2-dimensional image is created from the satellite data. Next, a pseudo-color image is created from the gray-scale image to assist the comprehension of the data. A 3-dimensional data representation of the image is also created, to assist the comparison of the individual data. The aim of the created image is for educational use, and the image is created with emphasis on comprehension of the data, rather than presentation of data details. The aim of the proposed system is presenting the satellite data visually so that non-experts can easily understand. The target of this research is to apply the proposed system for natural science education and to improve the awareness of global environmental issues.     

Modular manufacturing

This paper discusses requirements to be satisfied by future manufacturing systems and proposes a new concept of modular manufacturing to integrate intelligent and complex machines. In large-scale systems such as manufacturing systems, modularization is indispensable for clarifying logical structure and assuring a high degree of ease of construction. The parts, products and manufacturing equipments as well as the design and operating activities themselves are all described in units called modules. A manufacturing system is constructed and operated by combining these in building-block style. The creation of this manufacturing system relies on construction and operating systems that enable design and simulation in the virtual world, and production and control in the real world, in a unified approach. Hardware modules and software modules are compiled flexibly and hierarchically to fulfil specified tasks. A system in which modular manufacturing as a concept of system integration is applied to manufacturing robots is called a modular robot system. The robots are embedded in manufacturing systems as the highest application of model-based robotics.     

Current control of a PWM power amplifier by an approximate 2-degree-of-freedom digital controller

There is a need for robust current control of a pulse width modulation (PWM) power amplifier whose transient response characteristics do not deteriorate with extensive load changes and/or direct-current power supply voltage changes. In this article, we propose a digital robust controller with bumpless mode switching to control the current of a PWM power amplifier to satisfy the demands and extend the range of an inductive load width. It is necessary to measure the value of the load in order to implement this bumpless mode switching automatically depending on the load range. Therefore, a method of estimating the inductive load is shown. The bumpless mode switching is automatically performed by estimating an inductive value without specifying the value of the inductive load beforehand. That is, the value of the inductive load is estimated during the DDC execution, and the control mode is automatically switched bumplessly according to this estimated value. A digital controller equipped with inductance estimation and bumpless mode switching is realized by a DSP. Some experiments show that the digital controller with the proposed bumpless mode switching can satisfy larger specifications.     

Phase diagram of the Sb2Se3-CuInSe2 pseudobinary system and flux growth of CuInSe2 single crystals

The phase diagram of the Sb₂Se₃-CuInSe₂ pseudobinary system is constructed by using differential thermal analysis and X-ray diffraction. Based on the constructed phase diagram, solution growth of CuInSe₂ crystals is investigated. The grown crystals are evaluated by X-ray diffraction, electron probe microanalysis, Hall effect and inductively coupled plasma measurements. The results indicate that the crystals are not contaminated by the constituent of the flux, i.e., Sb. Hence, Sb₂Se₃ is promising as a solvent for the growth of CuInSe₂ crystals at temperatures lower than 800°C.     

Assessing neuromuscular block at the larynx: the effect of change in resting cuff pressure and a comparison with video imaging in anesthetized humans

Neuromuscular block (NMB) at the larynx has been assessed by measuring the cuff pressure (CP) in an endotracheal tube (ETT) placed between the vocal cords. In this study, we evaluated the decrease in resting cuff pressure (RCP) after the administration of rocuronium and the effect of this decrease on the assessment of NMB, and we compared CP measurement with an alternative technique, video imaging (VI). In 20 patients, NMB was determined at the hand by mechanomyography and at the larynx initially by CP and subsequently by VI, recording images using a fiberoptic bronchoscope via a laryngeal mask. Train-of-four stimuli were applied at both sites. After baseline measurements, the ETT was replaced, and rocuronium was infused to achieve a steady-state 50% (n = 10) or 75% (n = 10) block at the hand. CP measurements were recorded before and after restoration of RCP to prerocuronium pressure, followed by further VI measurements. The mean RCP decreased from 21 +/- 4 to 12 +/- 5 mm Hg after rocuronium. At 50% block at the hand, the CP estimate of block at the larynx with reduced RCP was 62% +/- 18%, and that after restoring RCP was 29% +/- 13%; VI estimated 27% +/- 14% block. At 75% block at the hand, CP and VI estimated 52% +/- 11% and 46% +/- 9% block, respectively (RCP maintained). We conclude that RCP decreases after the administration of rocuronium, that restoring RCP significantly alters CP estimates of NMB, and that VI is in agreement with CP measurement if RCP is maintained at prerelaxant values. Implications: In this study, we show that a muscle relaxant-induced decrease in resting tension at the larynx may confound the assessment of neuromuscular block by cuff pressure measurement. The preliminary data suggest that video imaging may provide a suitable alternative to cuff pressure measurement to assess neuromuscular block at the larynx.     

Identification of 130 kDa cell surface LDL-binding protein from smooth muscle cells as a partially processed T-cadherin precursor

Atypical cell surface lipoprotein-binding proteins of 105 kDa and 130 kDa are present in membranes of vascular smooth muscle cells. We recently identified the 105 kDa protein from human aortic media as T-cadherin, an unusual glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored member of the cadherin family of cell adhesion proteins. The goal of the present study was to determine the identity of 130 kDa lipoprotein-binding protein of smooth muscle cells. We applied different approaches that included protein sequencing of purified protein from human aortic media, the use of human T-cadherin peptide-specific antisera, and enzymatic treatment of cultured cells with trypsin and GPI-specific phospholipase C. Our results indicate that the 130 kDa protein is a partially processed form of T-cadherin which is attached to the membrane surface of smooth muscle cells via a GPI anchor and contains uncleaved N-terminal propeptide sequence. Our data disclose that, in contrast to classical cadherins, T-cadherin is expressed on the cell surface in both its precursor (130 kDa) and mature (105 kDa) forms.     

Agreement and clinical utility of 2 techniques for measuring cardiac output in patients with low cardiac output

BACKGROUND: The reliability of cardiac output obtained with the bolus technique is a problem. OBJECTIVES: To compare measurements of cardiac output measured with bolus and continuous techniques in patients with low cardiac output and to determine if measurements obtained with the continuous technique increased the number of subsequent clinical decisions. METHODS: In 60 intensive care patients, a nurse recorded a single continuous cardiac output measurement and then obtained the mean of 3 consecutive bolus determinations. The medical records of these 60 patients (experimental group) for the next 48 hours and of 60 other patients with regular or mixed venous oximetry catheters (control group) were reviewed to assess the occurrence of cardiac output events and the frequency of clinical decisions based on the events. RESULTS: Mean cardiac output was 4.46 L/min by the continuous technique and 5.20 L/min by the bolus technique (P = .011) for the experimental group. Median bias between the 2 types of measurements was -0.10 L/min (P = .79). Twenty-three of the pairs (38%) had an absolute percent difference greater than 15%. Of these, 18 (78%) had a higher bolus reading. Treatment decisions per 48 hours were 9.9 for the experimental group and 8.6 for the control group (P = .014). Median length of stay was 2 days less in the experimental group (P = .02), and mean highest cardiac output was 0.81 L/min higher (P = .009). CONCLUSIONS: Measurements of cardiac output determined with the continuous technique may be more precise than measurements determined with the bolus technique. Continuous cardiac output information increases the number of treatment decisions and actions that may shorten hospital length of stay.