Constant-phase-mode operation of the light-addressable potentiometric sensor

The constant-phase-mode operation of the light-addressable potentiometric sensor (LAPS) is proposed and demonstrated. In this new operation mode, the temporal change and the spatial distribution of the analyte concentration are recorded in the form of the bias voltage applied to the LAPS sensor plate, which is servo-controlled to maintain the phase of the photocurrent at a constant value with respect to the light modulation. The constant-phase-mode LAPS is advantageous for its wider measurement range and reduction of artifacts.     

Submodular fractional programming for balanced clustering

We address the balanced clustering problem where cluster sizes are regularized with submodular functions. The objective function for balanced clustering is a submodular fractional function, i.e., the ratio of two submodular functions, and thus includes the well-known ratio cuts as special cases. In this paper, we present a novel algorithm for minimizing this objective function (submodular fractional programming) using recent submodular optimization techniques. The main idea is to utilize an algorithm to minimize the difference of two submodular functions, combined with the discrete Newton method. Thus, it can be applied to the objective function involving any submodular functions in both the numerator and the denominator, which enables us to design flexible clustering setups. We also give theoretical analysis on the algorithm, and evaluate the performance through comparative experiments with conventional algorithms by artificial and real datasets.     

A procedure to analyze surface profiles of the protein molecules visualized by quick-freeze deep-etch replica electron microscopy

Quick-freeze deep-etch replica electron microscopy gives high contrast snapshots of individual protein molecules under physiological conditions in vitro or in situ. The images show delicate internal pattern, possibly reflecting the rotary-shadowed surface profile of the molecule. As a step to build the new system for the "Structural analysis of single molecules", we propose a procedure to quantitatively characterize the structural property of individual molecules; e.g. conformational type and precise view-angle of the molecules, if the crystallographic structure of the target molecule is available. This paper presents a framework to determine the observed face of the protein molecule by analyzing the surface profile of individual molecules visualized in freeze-replica specimens. A comprehensive set of rotary-shadowed views of the protein molecule was artificially generated from the available atomic coordinates using light-rendering software. Exploiting new mathematical morphology-based image filter, characteristic features were extracted from each image and stored as template. Similar features were extracted from the true replica image and the most likely projection angle and the conformation of the observed particle were determined by quantitative comparison with a set of archived images. The performance and the robustness of the procedure were examined with myosin head structure in defined configuration for actual application.     

Water-retaining ability of diacylglycerol

The water-in-oil emulsification characteristics and the adsorption properties of DAG at the oil/water interface were investigated for DAG having different FA compositions. The water-retaining ability of DAG is dependent on the FA composition but is not dependent on the interfacial tension at the oil/water interface in a simple way. The water-retaining ability is very different between uni-chain DAG (two FA have the same chain length) and complex-chain DAG (one FA is oleic acid and the other has a shorter alkyl chain). Uni-chain DAG, having long FA chains (R=C₁₂ or C_18∶1) have the ability to emulsify water at the volume fraction of 80% (ϕ80%), but uni-chain DAG with short or medium chain-length FA (R=C₃, C₄, C₆, C₈) show little ability to retain water. For complex-chain DAG, all the DAG studied here (R₁=C_18∶1, R₂=C₂−C₁₂) have the ability to emulsify water at ϕ80%. The stability of the emulsions, however, varies with the chain length of the R₂ FA (R₂ stability order: C₂, C₃>C_18∶1, C₁₀>C₈>C₄, C₆). The relationship between the water-retaining ability and the molecular structure of DAG is discussed from the viewpoint of intra- and intermolecular interactions between the FA chains.     

Voltages induced on an overhead wire by lightning strikes to a nearby tall grounded object

The aim of this study was to identify conditions under which the presence of tall strike object can serve to increase or decrease lightning-induced voltages on a nearby overhead wire. We examined the ratios of magnitudes of lightning-induced voltages on the overhead wire for the cases of strikes to a tall object and to flat ground as a function of distance from the lightning channel d, current reflection coefficients at the top of the strike object /spl rho//sub top/ and at the bottom of the strike object /spl rho//sub bot/, the current reflection coefficient at the channel base (in the case of strikes to flat ground) /spl rho//sub gr/, and the return stroke speed v. Lightning-induced voltages were computed using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. The transmission line (TL) model was used to find the distribution of current along the lightning channel and the strike object. The ratio of magnitudes of lightning-induced voltages for tall-object and flat-ground cases increases with increasing d (ranging from 40--200 m), decreasing /spl rho//sub bot/(<1), decreasing /spl rho//sub top/ (<0, except for the case of /spl rho//sub bot/=0), and decreasing v (相似文献   

高性能粉末冶金材料与其制造工艺的开发

随着常规粉末冶金产业发展，像锻轧粉末冶金铝合金、超塑性高温合金、机械合金化氧化物弥散强化（ODS）合金之类的先进粉末冶金工艺，引起了人们的注意。受先进粉末冶金工艺启发，开发了适应日本汽车与家电产业的新材料与生产工艺，开发了适合于钢铁结构的粉末冶金Al-Si-X合金。为了改进经济性与近终形（NNS）成形性，开发了无包套粉末挤压工艺与精压式粉末锻造工艺。基于这些工艺，还开发了比单一结构材料具有较多功能的新材料，诸如轻量散热器（heat sink）与高性能发动机气缸内衬。     

ISS experiments for the clarification of boiling and two-phase flow in microgravity and for the development of high-performance space cold plates

Inflow boiling, gravity effects on the distribution of both phases are observed in a heated tube and heat transfer coefficients due to two-phase forced convection is deteriorated in microgravity. In narrow channels between heated and unheated plates, the increase in subcooling enlarges a size of flattened bubble and reduces the frequency of detachment under microgravity conditions resulting the emphasis of heat transfer deterioration. To clarify reasons for the unknown behaviors of interfacial distribution and corresponding characteristics in heat transfer not easily be clarified through the experiments on ground, the opportunity on the experiments utilizing long-term microgravity duration realized in ISS is required. The experiments on microgravity boiling and two-phase flow are proposed by the collaboration of researchers in five countries. A common test loop is designed to conduct multiple experiments by the interchangeable structures of test sections; a transparent heated tube for the visualized flow boiling, a stainless tube for the measurement of CHF data, a copper surface for the heat transfer data of nucleate boiling with superimposed liquid flows in a duct, a glass heated plate with multiple array of small temperature sensors and transparent heaters for the clarification of mechanisms in nucleate boiling heat transfer, and one or two models of cold plates for practical applications. A direction of researches in the present discipline is proposed based on the existing experimental results and on the idea developed by the present authors.     

Appearance-based virtual view generation from multicamera videos captured in the 3-D room

We present an appearance-based virtual view generation method that allows viewers to fly through a real dynamic scene. The scene is captured by multiple synchronized cameras. Arbitrary views are generated by interpolating two original camera-views near the given viewpoint. The quality of the generated synthetic view is determined by the precision, consistency and density of correspondences between the two images. All or most of previous work that uses interpolation extracts the correspondences from these two images. However, not only is it difficult to do so reliably (the task requires a good stereo algorithm), but also the two images alone sometimes do not have enough information, due to problems such as occlusion. Instead, we take advantage of the fact that we have many views, from which we can extract much more reliable and comprehensive 3D geometry of the scene as a 3D model. Dense and precise correspondences between the two images, to be used for interpolation, are obtained using this constructed 3D model.     

Phase Equilibria in the Tl<Subscript>2</Subscript>Te-Tl<Subscript>5</Subscript>Te<Subscript>3</Subscript>-Tl<Subscript>9</Subscript>TmTe<Subscript>6</Subscript> Section of the Tl-Tm-Te System

Phase equilibria in the Tl₂Te-Tl₅Te₃-Tl₉TmTe₆ section of the Tl-Tm-Te ternary system were experimentally studied by using the powder x-ray diffraction technique, differential thermal analysis, as well as microhardness measurements applied to equilibrated alloys. Several isopleth sections and isothermal section at 680 K, as well as projections of the liquidus and solidus surfaces, were constructed. The Tl₅Te₃-Tl₉TmTe₆ section is characterized by the formation of continuous series of solid solutions (δ-phase) with Tl₅Te₃ tetragonal structure, which penetrate deep into the concentration triangle and occupy more than 90% of its area. A narrow area of solid solutions (α-phase) based on Tl₂Te was detected.