AMORE: A World Wide Web image retrieval engine

Search engines are useful because they allow the user to find information of interest from the World Wide Web. However, most of the popular search engines today are textual; they do not allow the user to find images from the Web. This paper describes AMORE, a Web search engine that allows the user to retrieve images from the Web by specifying relevant keywords or a similar image. Text and image search can also be combined. Moreover, we have developed a Query Result Visualization Environment that allows the organization of the results if many images are retrieved. In this paper we present AMORE's user interface and explain the technique for retrieving images visually similar to a user specified image. The method of automatically assigning relevant keywords to the images is then explained. Finally, the architecture of the system as well as some interesting observations of our experiences with AMORE are discussed. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Experimental study of the flow in helical circular pipes: Torsion effect on the flow velocity and turbulence

An objective of the present paper is to experimentally clarify the torsion effect on the flow in helical circular pipes. We have made six helical circular pipes having different pitches and common non-dimensional curvature δ of about 0.1. The torsion parameter β0, which is defined by β0 = τ/（2δ）1/2 with non-dimensional torsion r, are taken to be 0.02, 0.45, 0.69, 1.01, 1.38 and 1.89 covering from small to very large pitch. The velocity distributions and the turbulence of the flow are measured using an X-type hot-wire anemometer in the range of the Reynolds number from 200 to 20000. The results obtained are summarized as follows： The mean secondary flow pattern in a cross section of the pipe changes from an ordinary twin-vortex type as is seen in a curved pipe without torsion （toroidal pipe） to a single vortex type after one of the twin-vortex gradually disappears as β0 increases. The circulation direction of the single vortex is the same as the direction of torsion of the pipe. The mean velocity distribution of the axial flow is similar to that of the toroidal pipe at small β0, but changes its shape as β0 increases, and attains the shape similar to that in a straight circular pipe when ,β0 = 1.89. It is also found that the critical Reynolds number, at which the flow shows a marginal behavior to turbulence, decreases as ,β0 increases for small ,β0, and then increases after taking a minimum at ,β0 ≈ 1.4 as ,β0 increases. The minimum of the critical Reynolds number experimentally obtained is about 400 at ,β0 ≈ 1.4.     

Behavior of a mechanically anchored waterproofing membrane system under wind suction and uniform Pressure

A pressure and wind tunnel test was conducted to obtain the basic data for wind resistance design of a mechanically anchored waterproofing membrane system. The test specimen was a flat roof with the following dimensions: 2.4 m in width, 3 m in length and 0.29 m in height. The waterproofing material was polyvinyl chloride sheet reinforced with polyester fiber (PVC sheets). In the pressure test, because the applied pressure was equivalent to the pressure on the entire surface area of the roof, the billowing heights of the PVC sheet around the fastener had almost the same maximum values; therefore, the axial force at the fastener was also similar to the pressure induced by a compressor, and no lateral forces were measured. On the other hand, in the wind tunnel test, the strain of the PVC sheet around the fastener at windward side was larger than that of the leeward side. The lateral force was 70% of the axial force at a mean wind speed of 38.6 m/s. Therefore, it was clear that the characteristics of the mechanically anchored waterproofing membrane system in the pressure test and the wind tunnel test were different.     

Development of a high‐definition 32‐in. PDP

We developed the world's smallest‐profile 32‐in. HDTV PDP. By improving the luminous efficiency, a luminance of 650 cd/m² and power consumption (discharge and driving circuit) of 200 W or less was achieved. Moreover, incorporating an advanced color compensating (ACC) filter improved the PDP's color‐reproduction capability, better than that of CRTs.     

Rendering of specular surfaces in polygon-based computer-generated holograms

A technique is presented for realistic rendering in polygon-based computer-generated holograms (CGHs). In this technique, the spatial spectrum of the reflected light is modified to imitate specular reflection. The spectral envelopes of the reflected light are fitted to a spectral shape based on the Phong reflection model used in computer graphics. The technique features fast computation of the field of objects, composed of many specular polygons, and is applicable to creating high-definition CGHs with several billions of pixels. An actual high-definition CGH is created using the proposed technique and is demonstrated for verification of the optical reconstruction of specular surfaces.     

Minimization of measurement points on automobile traffic flow

The acquisition of information on the relation between flow speed and jam conditions of automobile traffic flow on express ways is necessary to achieve appropriate traffic flow. It is very difficult to use a large number of measuring points on a road, so in practice a grasp of the situation is achieved by measuring the flow conditions at a small number of measuring points. This paper deals with the application of a graphical interpolation method to the minimized number of measuring points in order to estimate the spatial density field of flow concentration. The traffic flow is expressed as a compressive flow, and this model is analyzed by a nonlinear equation. The results are given by the combination of characteristic lines and the propagation of a shock wave.     

Effects of heparin and its 6-O-and 2-O-desulfated derivatives with low anticoagulant activity on proliferation of human neural stem/progenitor cells

Heparin binds various growth factors and activates them to interact with high-affinity cell surface receptors; a specific array of sulfate groups in the heparin backbone structure is very important for this interaction. In the present study, we evaluated the effects of two novel heparin derivatives, 6-O-desulfated heparin (6-DSH) and 2-O-desulfated heparin (2-DSH), on blood coagulation and the proliferation of human neural stem/progenitor cells (NSPCs). 6-DSH showed lower anticoagulant activity than intact heparin or 2-DSH, as measured by the activated partial thromboplastin time and thrombin time. In the presence of FGF-2, 6-DSH and 2-DSH promoted approximately the same rate of proliferation of human NSPCs, without noticeably changing the expression of nestin. The mitotic effects of 6-DSH and 2-DSH on human NSPCs were different from their effects on mouse hematopoietic stem cells and fibroblasts. These findings indicate that 6-DSH and 2-DSH have the same ability to promote the growth of human NSPCs as intact heparin. Our results suggest that these two novel heparin derivates, especially 6-DSH, could be used in clinical applications for ex vivo human NSPC culture, as a lower-risk growth co-adjuvant than intact heparin.     

Dehydrogenation of Cyclohexane Over Ni Based Catalysts Supported on Activated Carbon using Spray-pulsed Reactor and Enhancement in Activity by Addition of a Small Amount of Pt

The polycrystalline silver after pre-treated with oxygen at high temperature was found to show excellent activity and selectivity in the process of direct dehydrogenation of methanol to anhydrous formaldehyde and the active oxygen species for this reaction was observed and proposed as the active centeres with in situ Raman scattering.     

Formulation of the rotational transformation of wave fields and their application to digital holography

Rotational transformation based on coordinate rotation in Fourier space is a useful technique for simulating wave field propagation between nonparallel planes. This technique is characterized by fast computation because the transformation only requires executing a fast Fourier transform twice and a single interpolation. It is proved that the formula of the rotational transformation mathematically satisfies the Helmholtz equation. Moreover, to verify the formulation and its usefulness in wave optics, it is also demonstrated that the transformation makes it possible to reconstruct an image on arbitrarily tilted planes from a wave field captured experimentally by using digital holography.     

Analysis of keratan sulfate oligosaccharides by electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry

Keratan sulfate (KS) is a glycosaminoglycan consisting of repeating disaccharide units composed of alternating residues of d-galactose and N-acetyl-d-glucosamine linked beta-(1-4) and beta-(1-3), respectively. In this study, electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MS/MS) was employed to identify keratan sulfate oligosaccharides. Two nonsulfated disaccharide isomers and two monosulfated disaccharide isomers were distinguished through MS/MS. In MS(1) spectra of multiply sulfated KS oligosaccharides, the charge state of the most abundant molecular ion equals the number of sulfates. Subsequent MS(2) and MS(3) spectra of mono-, di-, tri-, and tetrasulfated KS oligosaccharides and sialylated tetrasaccharides reveal diagnostic ions that can be used as fingerprint maps to identify unknown KS oligosaccharides. Based on the pattern of fragment ions, the compositions of an oligosaccharide mixture from shark cartilage KS and of two enzyme digests of bovine corneal KS were determined directly, without prior isolation of individual oligosaccharides by HPLC or other methods.