Exploratory analysis of brain connectivity with ICA.

Covariance-based methods of exploration of functional connectivity of the brain from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiments, such as principal component analysis (PCA) and structural equation modeling (SEM), require a priori knowledge such as an anatomical model to infer functional connectivity. In this research, a hybrid method, combining independent component analysis (ICA) and SEM, which is capable of deriving functional connectivity in an exploratory manner without the need of a prior model is introduced. The spatial ICA (SICA) derives independent neural systems or sources involved in task-related brain activation, while an automated method based on the SEM finds the structure of the connectivity among the elements in independent neural systems. Unlike second-order approaches used in earlier studies, the task-related neural systems derived from the ICA provide brain connectivity in the complete statistical sense. The use and efficacy of this approach is illustrated on two fMRI datasets obtained from a visual task and a language reading task.     

A neural network control system with parallel adaptive enhancementsapplicable to nonlinear servomechanisms

In this paper, we present a technique for using an additional parallel neural network to provide adaptive enhancements to a basic fixed neural network-based nonlinear control system. This proposed parallel adaptive neural network control system is applicable to nonlinear dynamical systems of the type commonly encountered in many practical position control servomechanisms. Properties of the controller are discussed, and it is shown that if Gaussian radial basis function networks are used for the additional parallel neural network, uniformly stable adaptation is assured and the approximation error converges to zero asymptotically. In the paper, the effectiveness of the proposed parallel adaptive neural network control system is demonstrated in real-time implementation experiments for position control in a servomechanism with asymmetrical loading and changes in the load     

Enhancement of oxide break-up by implantation of fluorine inpoly-Si emitter contacted p+-n shallow junctionformation

In this study, it is demonstrated that the incorporation of fluorine can enhance poly-Si/Si interfacial oxide break-up in the poly-Si emitter contacted p⁺-n shallow junction formation. The annealing temperature for breaking up the poly-Si/Si interfacial oxide has been found to be as low as 900°C. As a result, the junction depth of the BF₂-implanted device is much larger than that of the boron-implanted device     

Surface leakage currents in SiN/sub x/ passivated AlGaN/GaN HFETs

A novel guarded surface leakage test structure is used to isolate the surface and bulk leakage contributions to gate current in AlGaN/GaN HFETs. Passivation with various recipes of SiN/sub x/ always resulted in the commonly observed increase in gate leakage, which was found to be dominated by bulk leakage through the AlGaN. However, high temperature deposited SiN/sub x/ recipes gave a 1-2 orders reduction in surface leakage, whereas low temperature deposition gave an increase. Gate lag measurements were found to correlate closely with the surface leakage component, giving direct evidence that the key device problem of current slump is associated with current flow at the AlGaN surface.     

Study of miscibility enhancement in poly(styrene‐co‐4‐vinylphenol)/poly(ethylene oxide) blends by the spin labelling method

The electron spin resonance (ESR) spectra of end‐group spin labelled poly(ethylene oxide) (SLPEO) using 2,2,6,6‐tetramethyl‐piperdine‐1‐oxyl nitroxide and its blends with poly(styrene‐co‐4‐vinylphenol) (STVPhs) of different hydroxyl contents were recorded over a wide temperature range. For a blend of SLPEO and pure polystyrene (PS), the ESR spectrum was composed of a single motion component, indicating that PS was immiscible with PEO. For blends composed of SLPEO and different‐hydroxyl‐content STVPhs, two spectral components with different motion rates were observed over a certain temperature range. The difference between the motion rates should be attributed to micro‐heterogeneity in the blends, with the faster rate corresponding to a nitroxide radical motion trapped in the PEO‐rich domain and the slower rate corresponding to a nitroxide radical motion trapped in the STVPh‐rich domain. Variations in the values of a number of the ESR parameters (T_a, T_d and T_50G) and the apparent activation energy (E_a) with hydroxyl content in the blends indicated that the miscibility of the blends increased with increasing hydrogen‐bonding density due to specific interactions between the hydroxyl groups in STVPh and the ether oxygens in PEO. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry     

Novel blood-compatible waterborne polyurethane using chitosan as an extender

A series of novel block polymers of polyurethane (PU) and chitosan have been prepared in two steps. The first step is the preparation of PU prepolymer, obtained from polytetramethylene oxide glycol (PTMO, M_n = 1000), isophrone diisocyanate (IPDI), and 2,2′-dimethylol propionic acid (DMPA), followed by ionizing PU prepolymer with triethylamine (TEA). The second step involves PU chain-extended by water-soluble chitosan of low molecular weight (M_n = 5000) by self-emulsion polymerization method. The sizes of the latex particles, morphology, and copolymer architecture have been characterized by dynamic light scattering (DLS), general tensile test, infrared spectroscopy (IR), surface contact angle measurement, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Furthermore, it shows that the addition of chitosan remarkably increases anticoagulative property of PU elastomers confirmed by the recalcification time. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

c-BN color change with bonded water added into the h-BN–Mg system

Cubic boron nitride (c-BN) crystals were synthesized in conditions of high temperature and high pressure (HTHP) when different kinds of bonded water were respectively added into the system of h-BN–Mg. All bonded water used in this work could reduce the temperature of growing c-BN compared to that in the system of h-BN–Mg. The c-BN color could change from black to yellow when certain amounts of bonded water, such as NiSO₄·6H₂O and CuSO₄·5H₂O, Mg(OH)_2, were added. However, c-BN color remained black no matter how much bonded water, such as NiCl₂·6H₂O, CuCl₂·2H₂O, and SnCl₂·2H₂O, was added. The bonded water can be classified into Chlorine-containing bonded water (Cl-BW) and Chlorine-free bonded water (ClF-BW) according to their different characters and effects on the synthesized c-BN color.     

Optically tuned superconductive-dielectric resonators with whispering-gallery modes

An analytical method is presented for calculating the resonant frequency andQ-factor of a superconducting dielectric disk resonator operating in millimeter-wave regime with whispering-gallery mode. Resonant frequency shift due to the optical generation of quasi-particles in superconducting film is investigated as a function of photon flux. An optically tunable resonant frequency of about 500 MHz is estimated, and good agreement is found between numerical results and experimental ones.