A 3.6-Gb/s 340-mW 16:1 pipe-lined multiplexer using 0.18 μmSOI-CMOS technology

This paper describes a 16:1 multiplexer using 0.18 μm SOI-CMOS technology. To realize ultra-high-speed operations, the multiplexer adapts a pipeline structure and a phase shift technique together with a selector architecture. This architecture takes advantage of the small junction capacitances of the SOI-CMOS devices. The multiplexer achieves 3.6 Gb/s at a supply voltage of 2.0 V, while dissipating only 30 mW at the core circuit and 340 mW for the whole chip which includes the I/O buffers     

Photocatalytic activity of transparent porous glass supported TiO2

A porous glass tube with a composition of 96SiO₂·4B₂O₃ (wt%) supported TiO₂ shows high photooxidation activity due to its transparency and large surface area. The surface area of the porous glass tube supported TiO₂ is 10,000 times larger than that of conventional materials. TiO₂ crystals supported are anatase type. Transparency of the porous glass tube is very important. Herein, sol–gel and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) processes were employed as TiO₂ supporting processes. CVD process is more effective. For instance, an aqueous methylene blue solution with 1 ppm concentration almost thoroughly decomposes at a contact time of 300 s using porous glass tube supported TiO₂ prepared by CVD process under irradiating with 10 W low-pressure mercury lamp, on the other hand, opaque porous alumina tube supported TiO₂ was only 25%. The smaller the pore size of the porous glass tube, the larger the transparency and the permeation resistance through porous glass tube. Hence, porous glass tube with ca. 40 nm pore diameter is suitable from the standpoint of a practical use.     

Simple Degenerate Formulation for Large Displacement Analysis of Beams

A finite-element formulation for the large displacement analysis of beams is proposed. It is based on the degeneration approach: The governing equations for a general solid are directly discretized. The assumptions of the Timoshenko beam theory are implemented in the discretization process by devising beam elements and utilizing the penalty method. The formulation for 2D beam analysis is first presented and the 3D formulation follows. Characteristically, the proposed beam elements possess relative nodes and rotations are excluded from nodal variables. The beam formulations thus developed are quite simple and straightforward. It is noteworthy that unlike conventional formulations, the present formulation for 3D beam analysis is just a simple extension of the 2D case, which can be attributed mainly to the avoidance of rotations in nodal variables. In numerical examples, the approximate penalty number is investigated first by analyzing a cantilever beam, and it turns out to be 103 times Young's modulus. With this value, example problems are solved and excellent agreement with the existing solutions is observed, confirming the validity of the present formulation.     

Development and Application of Sintering Dynamics Simulation for Automotive Catalyst

Sintering behavior of Pt/γ-Al₂O₃, Pt/ZrO₂ and Pt/CeO₂ catalyst was studied using an originally developed 3D sintering simulator. Experimental results were well reproduced. While Pt on the γ-Al₂O₃ sintered significantly, Pt on CeO₂ presented the highest stability against sintering. On the other hand, grain growth of supports was significant in the order; ZrO₂ > CeO₂ > γ-Al₂O₃.     

Synchronization and periodic windows in a globally coupled map lattice

A globally coupled map lattice (GCML) is an extension of a spin glass model. It consists of a large number of maps with a high degree of nonlinearity, and evolves iteratively under averaging interactions via their mean field. It exhibits various interesting phases in the conflict between randomness and coherence. We have found that even in its weak coupling regime, the effects of the periodic windows of element maps dominate the dynamics of the system, and the system forms periodic cluster attractors. This may give a clue to efficient pattern recognition by the brain. We analyze how the effect systematically depends on the distance from the periodic windows in the parameter space.     

Molecular dynamics study on vanadium pentoxide

We have studied bulk structure and three low-index surfaces of V₂O₅ using molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. The calculated infra-red (IR) absorption bands of V₂O₅ bulk structure are consistent with the experimental result. The (0 0 1) surface was calculated to be the most stable, small energy difference between the (0 0 1) surface and bulk corresponds their similarity. Atoms with small coordination relax much more than bulk like atoms, they undergo vertical as well as lateral relaxations in order to compensate the missing bonds at the top layer. The driving force which determines the direction of relaxation seems to be the improvement of local environments of the top layer atoms. The vanadyl oxygens exposed to the (0 0 1) and (0 1 0) as well as (1 0 0) surfaces seem to act as active sites in the oxidation process of hydrocarbons.     

Comparison on maximum-likelihood sequence estimation schemesincorporating carrier phase estimation

This paper compares the following two maximum likelihood sequence estimation schemes incorporating carrier phase estimation for coded MPSK: (1) the respective-state channel estimation and (2) the multiple differential detection. This paper confirms by analysis and computer simulation that both schemes have similar performance in the absence of intersymbol interference     

Extraction of Rare Earth Elements as Oxides from a Neodymium Magnetic Sludge

We propose a simple method for separating rare earth elements as oxides from a neodymium magnetic sludge by focusing on the affinity of oxygen for the rare earth elements (Nd, Dy, and Pr) and Fe. We have conducted separation experiments with a carbon crucible as contact material to confirm that carbon maintains the oxygen potential in the coexistence region of rare earth oxides and metallic Fe. In this work, the oxide phase of the rare earth elements and the alloy phase that primarily consists of Fe were separated clearly when the magnetic sludge in the carbon crucible was kept at 1823?K (1550?°C) under an Ar atmosphere. The purity of the rare earth oxide phase was high and only a small amount of rare earth elements were contained in the alloy phase. We found that the melting temperature of the rare earth oxides is a crucial factor for separation efficiency in our proposed method.     

Ferulic Acid Production in the Brewing of Rice Wine (Sake)

The traditional Japanese alcoholic beverage sake is produced by fermentation of rice by Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Aspergillus oryzae. A. oryzae releases ferulic acid, an antioxidant, from steamed rice during the fermentation process. The concentration of ferulic acid increased with time during fermentation and the production rate peaked 9–12 days post inoculation. Analysis of the fermentation cultures of Aspergillus oryzae, by high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), revealed that p‐coumaric acid induced an 18.9‐fold increase in the level of ferulic acid. Furthermore, SDS‐PAGE analysis revealed an increase or decrease in the level of specific proteins after the addition of p‐coumaric acid to fermentation cultures of Aspergillus oryzae. Ferulate esterase (FAE) activity was observed in the fermented sake ten days following the start of the fermentation process. These results suggest that the level of ferulic acid is regulated by the enzymes synthesized by A. oryzae during the sake brewing process.