Avoiding Routing Loops on the Internet

Suppose that some particular link in the Internet is currently congested. A natural solution is to try to make packets bypass that link. This can be done by increasing the cost of that link intentionally, say from a ₁ to a ₂, since the Internet uses shortest-path routing. Unfortunately, however, this often causes temporary loops for packet traveling, called routing loops. In this paper we show that routing loops can be avoided by increasing the cost of the link not directly from a ₁ to a ₂ but through an intermediate value, a ₃, i.e., from a ₁ to a ₃ and then to a ₂. We may need several intermediate values. We show that in this case the greedy strategy, namely, raising the cost as much as possible in each step, is optimal.     

Modular fuzzy-neuro controller driven by spoken language commands.

We present a methodology of controlling machines using spoken language commands. The two major problems relating to the speech interfaces for machines, namely, the interpretation of words with fuzzy implications and the out-of-vocabulary (OOV) words in natural conversation, are investigated. The system proposed in this paper is designed to overcome the above two problems in controlling machines using spoken language commands. The present system consists of a hidden Markov model (HMM) based automatic speech recognizer (ASR), with a keyword spotting system to capture the machine sensitive words from the running utterances and a fuzzy-neural network (FNN) based controller to represent the words with fuzzy implications in spoken language commands. Significance of the words, i.e., the contextual meaning of the words according to the machine's current state, is introduced to the system to obtain more realistic output equivalent to users' desire. Modularity of the system is also considered to provide a generalization of the methodology for systems having heterogeneous functions without diminishing the performance of the system. The proposed system is experimentally tested by navigating a mobile robot in real time using spoken language commands.     

Rod-like β-FeSi2 phase grown on Si (111) substrate

Pure Fe with coverage of 0.5-2.0 nm was deposited on Si (111) 7×7 surfaces by reactive deposition epitaxy (RDE) in an integrated ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) system. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) confirmed that the as-deposited epitaxial phase exhibits rod-like and equilateral triangular morphology. The as-deposited phase was identified as c-FeSi₂ by electron diffraction and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. It was found that there exists lattice distortion in epitaxial c-FeSi₂ phase. Upon annealing at 1073 K, the metastable c-FeSi₂ transforms into equilibrium β-FeSi₂ phase, the latter inherits completely the morphology of c-FeSi₂ phase. Based on RDE and subsequent annealing, a new fabrication technique to grow rod-like semiconducting β-FeSi₂ on a Si substrate has been proposed in the present work.     

In-Situ Observation of SiC Bulk Single Crystal Growth by XRD System

In-situ analysis for SiC bulk single crystal growth was reported using vertical X-ray diffractometer system. A furnace for SiC sublimation growth combined with the XRD system which possessed three kinds of functions including topography, rocking curve measurement and crystal growth rate monitoring was developed. These functions could contribute as a powerful tool finding the optimum growth condition by dynamic observation in the crucible. In this study, the in-situ X-ray topographs succeeded to capture dynamic elongation of defects and dislocation generated in the SiC growing crystals. The in-situ rocking curve measurement reviled appearance of mosaic structure in the SiC crystal grown with high growth rate. The in-situ growth rate monitoring also succeeded very precisely using the direct X-ray beam absorption. On the base of findings and facts obtained by the in-situ observations, the importance for the SiC growth was discussed.     

Artificial retina chips for image processing

Artificial retina chips which can simultaneously sense and process real world images are described. The comparison between artificial retinal systems and conventional image processing systems is described. Variable sensitivity photodetection, which is an essential technology for the artificial retina chips, is introduced in detail. The concept, structure, fundamental performance, operating principle, and processing functions for the fabricated artificial retinal chips are described. Applications including interactive games by gesture-input are also introduced. This work was presented, in part, at the International Symposium on Artificial Life and Robotics, Oita, Japan, February 18–20, 1996.     

Speciation of selenium in selenium-enriched seeds,buckwheat (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Fagopyrum esculentum</Emphasis> Moench) and quinoa (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Chenopodium quinoa</Emphasis> Willdenow)

Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench) and quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willdenow) are widely used as food ingredients. The nutritional characteristics of these plants, i.e., high contents of proteins and amino acids suggest that selenium (Se) is preserved as selenoamino acid derivatives, in particular, selenomethionine (SeMet) in proteins, similar to selenized yeast. Therefore, buckwheat and quinoa are expected to be a good nutritional source of Se. Selenized buckwheat and quinoa were cultivated on Se-fortified soil using sparingly soluble Se salts, such as barium selenate and barium selenite. Se concentration in the edible parts of these plants was determined, and Se extraction efficiency with enzyme or alkali was evaluated. In addition, the chemical species of Se in the low molecular weight fraction of these plants were determined by HPLC-ICP-MS. Total Se concentrations in the edible parts of selenized buckwheat and quinoa were 170.4 ± 2.9 μg/g and 102.7 ± 2.4 μg/g wet weight, respectively. Thus, these selenized seeds were found to be Se accumulators. The results indicate that Se in selenized buckwheat exists mainly as SeMet, while Se in selenized quinoa exists not only as SeMet but also as selenate (Se(VI)) and non-protein forms.     

Simultaneous determination of five antioxidants in food by HPLC with fluorescence detection

An HPLC method with fluorescence detection was developed for the determination of propyl gallate, nordihydroguaiaretic acid, butylated hydroxyanisole (2- and 3-tert-butyl-4-hydroxyanisole), tert-butylhydroquinone and octyl gallate in edible oils and foods. The antioxidants in edible oil were isolated directly with acetonitrile saturated with n-hexane. The antioxidants in food were extracted with ethyl acetate and the extract was concentrated under vacuum. They were isolated from the residue with acetonitrile saturated with n-hexane. The acetonitrile layer was centrifuged at 5,000 rpm for 10 min. The HPLC separation was performed on a Symmetry C18 column (3.5 microns, 4.6 mm i.d. x 150 mm) using a mixture of 5% acetic acid-acetonitrile-methanol (4:3:3, v/v/v) as the mobile phase and monitored by using a fluorescence detector with time programming. Sample peaks were identified by comparison of the fluorescence spectra with those of antioxidant standards. Average recoveries of fortified antioxidants at 100 micrograms/g were 72.1-99.6%. Coefficients of variation were 0.7-7.2%.     

How do tufted capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) understand causality involved in tool use?

Four tufted capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) were trained to choose from 2 hook-like tools, 1 of which successfully led to collecting food, whereas the other did not because of inappropriate spatial arrangement of the tool and the food. In Experiment 1, all of the monkeys successfully learned the basic task. The monkeys performed successfully with tools of novel colors and shapes in Experiments 2-5. These results demonstrate that the monkeys used the spatial arrangement of the tool and the food as a cue. However, they failed when there were obstacles (Experiment 6) or traps (Experiment 7) on the path along which she monkeys dragged tools. These results may suggest that capuchin monkeys understand the spatial relationship between 2 items, namely, food and. the tool, but do not understand the spatial relationship among 3 items, namely, food, tool, and the environmental condition. The possible role of stimulus generalization is also considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)