Zero-subject Resolution Using Linguistic Constraints and Defaults: The Case of Japanese Instruction Manuals

This paper proposes a methodfor anaphora resolution ofzero subjects in Japaneseinstruction manuals based onboth the linguistic nature ofexpressions and the generalontology of the text type.In instruction manuals writtenin Japanese, zero subject isone of main reasons forambiguity of sentences.In order to resolve them,we examined the property ofseveral types of expressionsincluding some forms of verbalphrases and some conjunctive clauses.As a result, we have aset of constraints and defaultsfor zero subject resolution.We verified the precision and recall rateof the constraints and defaults with realexamples, and have found that they makequite good estimates with 97% precisionand 80% recall.     

Psychophysical evaluations of a current multi‐view 3‐D display: Its advantages in glossiness reproduction

Abstract— Although two‐view 3‐D displays requiring stereo glasses are on the market, the shape of objects they present is distorted when the observer's head moves. This problem can be solved by using a (passive) multi‐view 3‐D display because such a display can produce motion parallax. Another problem has to do with the surface quality of the presented object, but little is known about the fidelity of such displays as far as the surface quality goes. Previously, it was found that a two‐view 3‐D display has a problem in which glossiness deteriorates when the observer's head moves and that it can be alleviated by using a head tracker, whose data enables the display to produce correct motion parallax and luminance changes when the viewer's head moves. Here, it was determined whether this problem can be solved by using commercially available multi‐view 3‐D displays, whose finite number of viewpoints and certain amount of cross‐talk, however, make luminance changes inexact and smaller than they should be. It was found that this display can solve the problem to a certain extent.     

Vacuum freezing type ice slurry production using ethanol solution 1st report: Measurement of vapor–liquid equilibrium data of ethanol solution at 20 °C and at the freezing temperature

In this study, an original method for the production of ice slurry from ethanol solution without using a refrigerator is proposed. This system has advantages compared with similar existing systems using materials other than ethanol solution. In this paper, the vapor–liquid equilibrium data of ethanol solution at 20 °C and at the freezing temperature are measured, which is necessary to calculate the COP of this ice slurry producing system. In the experiments, two experimental methods are proposed to measure the saturated pressure and the vapor composition of ethanol solution. Each method has an advantage in their operating temperature range. As a result, the vapor–liquid equilibrium diagrams of ethanol solution at 20 °C and at the freezing temperature, and approximations of saturated pressure of various concentrations of ethanol solution for varying liquid temperature, are obtained.     

Synthesis and electrochromic properties of a highly water-soluble hyperbranched polymer viologen

A highly water-soluble hyperbranched polymer with viologen units (HB-1) was synthesized for application to electrochromic (EC) display. Electrochemical and spectroscopic properties of HB-1 were evaluated by absorption spectra and cyclic voltammetry. They were compared with those of a low molecular weight viologen molecule (1). We fabricated a simple EC window by a thin (300-500 nm) solid film of HB-1 and an electrolyte solution to demonstrate the EC behavior. By successively applying opposite bias voltages to it, reversible color changes between colorless and purple were observed with good contrast, whereas blue color was observed for 1 upon reduction. The colored state in HB-1 was ascribed to the generation of radical cation dimer species of viologen units due to high local concentrations in HB-1. When the bias was turned off after achieving the colored state, no fading was observed in the EC window. This result indicates that the radical cation dimer species of HB-1 in solid films were stable against disproportionation or reaction with oxygen even though no active protection was made in this EC window. Since the present EC device has such a memory effect, bias voltage is needed in writing and erasing processes alone, which is very useful in practical applications.     

Preparation of Triazole-furnished Ferrocene Derivatives and their Polymer Complexes of Silver(I)

Condensation reactions of feroccenemethanol and of 1,1′-feroccenedimethanol with benzotriazole and triazole produce the ferrocene derivatives with one or two N-azole-containing substituents bonded to the cyclopentadienyl ligands. The bifunctional ferrocene derivatives, 1,1′-bis[(1,2,3-benzotriazol-1-yl)methyl]ferrocene and 1,1′-bis(1,2,4-triazoyl)ferrocene, reacts with [Ag(MeCN)₄]PF₆ to cause separation of the macromolecular complexes from the solution. The former ferrocene derivative with benzotriazole groups yields the complex of Ag(I) with Ag:ligand = 2:3. The Ag center is bonded to three triazole groups, forming a trigonal structure. Crystals of the complexes contain the ladder-shaped sheets formed by Ag(I) and the ligand, and these sheets are aligned in a staggered fashion. The latter ligand with 1,2,4-triazole groups and Ag(I) yield the 1:1 complex. Counter anions and MeCN molecules are contained within holes formed by the Ag(I) centers bonded with a metal–metal bond and the bifunctional ligands. NMR and UV measurement of the MeCN solution of these macromolecular complexes revealed dissociation of the ligand and degradation of the complexes in solution. This paper is dedicated to Professor Takakazu Yamamoto in honor of his pioneering research efforts and accomplishments in the fields of organometallics and π-conjugated polymers.     

Iterative algorithm of phase determination in digital holography for real-time recording of real objects

We propose a numerical method to obtain complex amplitude distribution of a three-dimensional (3D) object from a digital hologram. The method consists of two processes. The first process is to measure simultaneously a hologram of the 3D object and an object intensity distribution by two image sensors. These intensity distributions give us the amplitude and absolute value of phase of the 3D object at the image sensor plane. The second process is the determination of phase distribution by a proposed iterative process based on the criterion that the reconstructed 3D object is in focus and its conjugate reconstruction is out of focus. Numerical and experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed method.     

Distributed antenna network for gigabit wireless access

For gigabit wireless data services, there are three important technical issues to be addressed: limited bandwidth, severe frequency-selective fading, and limited transmit power. A distributed antenna network (DAN) is a promising solution to the above three technical issues. In DAN, each mobile user is served by using multiple distributed antennas close to it. In this paper, recent advances in various distributed multi-input/multi-output (MIMO) techniques combined with single-carrier (SC) frequency-domain signal processing are presented for DAN. Particular attention is paid to SC frequency-domain MIMO diversity, relay, beamforming, and multiplexing jointly used with frequency-domain equalization (FDE) to significantly improve the signal transmission performance.     

Experimental studies of metal-clad tapered optical waveguides

Propagation characteristics of metal-clad optical waveguides with low index dielectric tapered buffer layer have been experimentally studied. The extinction ratio of TE- and TM-modes depends strongly on the tapered angle ? and the length L. The extinction ratio of 22 dB for ? = 0.0015 rad and L = 0.35 mm was observed.     

InGaAsP/InP monolithic integrated circuit with lasers and an optical switch

InGaAs/InP monolithic integrated circuits composed of a compact carrier-injection optical switch and distributed feedback laser diodes are fabricated. These integrated circuits have a variety of functions, such as monolithic modulators, switches and optical amplifiers for optical communication systems.     

256 × 256 Turnover-type free-space multichannel optical switch based on polarization control using liquid-crystal spatial light modulators

Free-space multichannel optical switches using polarization control are attracting interest for future telecommunication networks and interconnection networks in computers. We describe a switching architecture, the turnover type, for such free-space multichannel optical switches. The architecture makes it possible to realize a large-scale and transparent optical switch that is also compact. A 256 × 256 multichannel optical switch based on the architecture is designed and fabricated. To the authors' knowledge, the channel number of the fabricated switch is the largest yet reported among rearrangeable optical switches. Switching operation and signal transmission at 400 Mbits/s are performed successfully with a prototype switch.