Tunable laser-based design and analysis for fractional lambda switches

Fractional lambda switching (FlambdaS) is a novel approach for traffic management over all-optical networks with sub-wavelength provisioning capability. The unique characteristic of FlambdaS is the utilization of UTC (coordinated universal time) for switching with minimum or no buffers. Several central research issues are still open in FlambdaS and need to be formally defined and analyzed. In this paper, we introduce three novel switch designs that are based on the use of tunable lasers (which can be replaced in the future with wavelength converters). First, the paper presents analytical results of scheduling feasibility, which measures the total number of possible different schedules for each switch design. Then it is shown that the architecture with the highest scheduling feasibility is strictly non blocking in the space domain. Next, the paper provides a closed form analysis of the blocking probability in the time domain, which is applicable for any strictly non-space blocking switch, using combinatorics. In addition, the paper provides measures of the switching hardware complexity, which, for the strictly non-blocking architecture, has the same switching complexity as Clos interconnection network, i.e., O(N'radic(N')) where N' is the number of optical channels.     

A highly efficient novel azimuthal heliotrope

A new type of a single-axis azimuthal tracker is presented. The novel feature of this tracker is the ability to move the collector’s plane in two directions through a special support structure. This structure consists of a sliding mechanism on the central axis and a curved window on the cylindrical surface coaxial to the central axis. Consequently, the proposed novel heliotrope behaves similarly to a two-axis tracker. Two different windows designed on the cylindrical surface may be used to provide very high efficiencies throughout a year. Several performance measurements have been conducted on this novel tracker, a polar tracker and the reference two-axis tracker. Pyranometers, appropriately calibrated, were installed on all three systems to record the global incoming irradiance on the collector’s plane. It is shown that the new tracker system can be very efficient since its plane intercepts, at least, 98% of the insolation with respect to a two-axis tracker. The proposed system can be utilized in solar-related applications (photovoltaic or thermal).     

PURIFICATION AND PROPERTIES OF TRANSGLUTAMINASE FROM STREPTOVERTICILLIUM MOBARAENSE

Transglutaminase (TGase) was separated from the culture broth of an isolated strain of Streptoverticillium mobaraense. The crude enzyme was prepared by centrifugation, ultrafiltration, precipitation by alcohol, centrifugation and freeze‐drying. The yield after these processes was 65–70%. Then the enzyme was purified to homogeneity by chromatography on CM‐cellulose and Sephadex G‐75 on which the yields were about 70% and 80%, respectively; the purified folds reached 2.5–4.7 and 1.08–2.06, respectively. The molecular weight of this TGase was 39,500–40,100 Da by gel filtration chromatography. Optimum enzyme activity was observed in the pH range of 5.0–7.0, and it was maintained stable at 20–40C. The optimal temperature and pH was 52C and 6.0, respectively. At 1 mM and 5 mM metal ion or inhibitors concentration, TGase activity was strongly inhibited by Zn²⁺ and NEM, and not affected obviously by Ba²⁺, Ca²⁺, Co²⁺, Cu²⁺, Fe²⁺, Fe³⁺, Mg²⁺, Mn²⁺, Na⁺ as well as PMSF and EDTA. The effects of these additions on this TGase were compared with those of other microbial TGases.     

Novel tiO2 nanocatalysts for wastewater purification: tapping energy from the sun.

Water treatment using TiO2 semiconductor as a durable heterogeneous photocatalyst has been the focus of environmentalists in recent years. Currently, we developed an inexpensive and highly efficient approach for synthesizing nitrogen-doped TiO2 with lower band-gap energy that can respond to visible light. Doping on the molecular scale led to an enhanced nitrogen concentration of up to 21.8%. Reflectance measurements showed the synthesized N-doped TiO2 nanoparticles are catalytically active with the absorbance that extends into the visible region up to 600 nm. The water purification potential of this new class of compound was evaluated by studying the photodegradation of Acid Orange 7 (AO7) and E. coli. Experiments were conducted to compare the photocatalytic activities of N-doped TiO2 nanocatalysts and commercially available Degussa P25 power under identical solar light exposure. N-doped TiO2 demonstrated superior photocatalytic activities in both chemical compound degradation and bactericidal reactions. The result of this study shows the potential of applying new generations of catalyst for wastewater purification and disinfection.     

Pre-Attentive and Attentive Detection of Humans in Wide-Field Scenes

We address the problem of localizing and obtaining high-resolution footage of the people present in a scene. We propose a biologically-inspired solution combining pre-attentive, low-resolution sensing for detection with shiftable, high-resolution, attentive sensing for confirmation and further analysis. The detection problem is made difficult by the unconstrained nature of realistic environments and human behaviour, and the low resolution of pre-attentive sensing. Analysis of human peripheral vision suggests a solution based on integration of relatively simple but complementary cues. We develop a Bayesian approach involving layered probabilistic modeling and spatial integration using a flexible norm that maximizes the statistical power of both dense and sparse cues. We compare the statistical power of several cues and demonstrate the advantage of cue integration. We evaluate the Bayesian cue integration method for human detection on a labelled surveillance database and find that it outperforms several competing methods based on conjunctive combinations of classifiers (e.g., Adaboost). We have developed a real-time version of our pre-attentive human activity sensor that generates saccadic targets for an attentive foveated vision system. Output from high-resolution attentive detection algorithms and gaze state parameters are fed back as statistical priors and combined with pre-attentive cues to determine saccadic behaviour. The result is a closed-loop system that fixates faces over a 130 deg field of view, allowing high-resolution capture of facial video over a large dynamic scene.     

Aging response of the young’s modulus and mechanical properties of Ti-29Nb-13Ta-4.6Zr for biomedical applications

Alloys for implant devices require improved strength but a reduced Young’s modulus, in order to become mechanically more compatible with adjacent bone tissues. In this study, a new metastable β-type titanium alloy, Ti-29Nb-13Ta-4.6Zr (wt pct), was subjected to aging treatment to produce different microstructures, and the resulting mechanical properties, including the Young’s modulus, were measured. The Young’s modulus of this alloy is found to be sensitive to microstructures generated by various heat treatments. For microstructures varying from (α + β) to (α + β + ω) and (β + ω), the Young’s modulus increases with an accompanying increase in tensile strength and hardness, but decreases in ductility. The (β + ω) microstructure has a low strength, high modulus, and poor ductility and cannot be used for biomedical applications. For an (α + β) microstructure, the volume fraction of the phases is shown to be the main factor that determines the mechanical properties.     

Development of Stretch Solder Interconnections for Wafer Level Packaging

A wafer level packaging technique has been developed with an inherent advantage of good solder joint co-planarity suitable for wafer level testing. A suitable weak metallization scheme has also been established for the detachment process. During the fabrication process, the compliancy of the solder joint is enhanced through stretching to achieve a small shape factor. Thermal cycling reliability of these hourglass-shaped, stretch solder interconnections has been found to be considerably better than that of the conventional spherical-shaped solder bumps.     

Effect of light source spectral modulation on wavelength interrogation in fiber Bragg grating sensors and its reduction

In the fiber Bragg grating sensing using a superluminescent diode as the light source and an arrayed waveguide grating as the wavelength interrogator, the wavelength measurement error due to the spectral modulation of the superluminescent diode is theoretically formulated and quantitatively analyzed by computer simulation. It is shown that the wavelength measurement errors produced with the use of real superluminescent diodes are in very good agreement with the theoretical results. In order to reduce the wavelength measurement error due to the spectral modulation of superluminescent diode, two different types of remedies are proposed that utilize the temperature switching of superluminescent diode and that adjust the bandwidths of fiber Bragg grating and arrayed waveguide grating, and their efficacies are experimentally demonstrated together with good quantitative agreement with the theoretical calculation.     

Translating a typical business process modelling language to a web services ontology through lightweight mapping

Bridging the gap between enterprise modelling methods and Semantic Web services is an important yet challenging task. For organisations with business goals, the automation of business processes as Web services is increasingly important, especially with many business transactions taking place within the Web today. Taking one approach to address this problem, a lightweight mapping between Fundamental Business Process Modelling Language (FBPML) and the Web Services Ontology (OWL-S) is outlined. The framework entails a data model translation and a process model translation via the use of ontologies and mapping principles. Several working examples of the process model translations are presented together with the implementation of an automated translator. FBPML constructs and process models that could not be translated to OWL-S equivalents highlight the differences between the languages of the two domains. It also implies that evolving Semantic Web technologies, in particular OWL-S, are not adequate for all service modelling needs and could thus benefit from the more traditional and mature BPM methods. On a more interesting note, this is effectively the first step towards enabling a semantic-based business workflow system