Catalyst Design of Pt-Modified Ni/Al2O3 Catalyst with Flat Temperature Profile in Methane Reforming with CO2 and O2

Pt(0.3)/Ni(10)/Al₂O₃, prepared by a sequential impregnation method, exhibited a more excellent performance in methane reforming with CO₂ and O₂ in terms of the catalytic activity and the temperature profile of the catalyst bed than Pt(0.3) + Ni(10)/Al₂O₃ prepared by a coimpregnation method, Ni(10)/Al₂O₃, Pt(0.3)/Al₂O₃, and Pt(10)/Al₂O₃. It is thought that this is because the surface Pt atoms on Ni catalyst can contribute to the enhancement of the catalyst reducibility.     

Development of an epileptic seizure prediction algorithm using R–R intervals with self-attentive autoencoder

Epilepsy is a neurological disorder that may affect the autonomic nervous system (ANS) from 15 to 20 min before seizure onset, and disturbances of ANS affect R–R intervals (RRI) on an electrocardiogram (ECG). This study aims to develop a machine learning algorithm for predicting focal epileptic seizures by monitoring R–R interval (RRI) data in real time. The developed algorithm adopts a self-attentive autoencoder (SA-AE), which is a neural network for time-series data. The results of applying the developed seizure prediction algorithm to clinical data demonstrated that it functioned well in most patients; however, false positives (FPs) occurred in specific participants. In a future work, we will investigate the causes of FPs and optimize the developing seizure prediction algorithm to further improve performance using newly added clinical data.

     

Efficient semi-supervised learning on locally informative multiple graphs

We address an issue of semi-supervised learning on multiple graphs, over which informative subgraphs are distributed. One application under this setting can be found in molecular biology, where different types of gene networks are generated depending upon experiments. Here an important problem is to annotate unknown genes by using functionally known genes, which connect to unknown genes in gene networks, in which informative parts vary over networks. We present a powerful, time-efficient approach for this problem by combining soft spectral clustering with label propagation for multiple graphs. We demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of our approach using both synthetic and real biological datasets.     

Static Coarse Grain Task Scheduling with Cache Optimization Using OpenMP

Effective use of cache memory is getting more important with increasing gap between the processor speed and memory access speed. Also, use of multigrain parallelism is getting more important to improve effective performance beyond the limitation of loop iteration level parallelism. Considering these factors, this paper proposes a coarse grain task static scheduling scheme considering cache optimization. The proposed scheme schedules coarse grain tasks to threads so that shared data among coarse grain tasks can be passed via cache after task and data decomposition considering cache size at compile time. It is implemented on OSCAR Fortran multigrain parallelizing compiler and evaluated on Sun Ultra80 four-processor SMP workstation using Swim and Tomcatv from the SPEC fp 95. As the results, the proposed scheme gives us 4.56 times speedup for Swim and 2.37 times on 4 processors for Tomcatv respectively against the Sun Forte HPC Ver. 6 update 1 loop parallelizing compiler.     

Quantum Monte Carlo Device Simulation of Nano-Scaled SOI-MOSFETs

Quantum transport properties of nano-scaled SOI-MOSFETs are investigated based on a quantum Monte Carlo (MC) device simulation. The quantum mechanical effects are incorporated in terms of a quantum correction of potential in the well-developed particle MC computational techniques. The ellipsoidal multi-valleys of silicon conduction band are also considered in the simulation. First, the validity of the quantum MC technique is verified by comparing the simulated results with a self-consistent Schrödinger-Poisson solution at thermal equilibrium. Then, we apply the technique to non-equilibrium and quasi-ballistic quantum transport in nano-scaled SOI-MOSFETs.     

Non-invasive and rapid analysis for observation of internal structure of press-coated tablet using X-ray computed tomography

Background: Since the internal structure of a tablet can be measured without destruction of the sample by X‐ray computed tomography (CT), it could be applied to quality control of tablets during the manufacturing process. Aim: A novel, fast, noninvasive tablet observation method was developed to evaluate the internal structure of commercial press-coated tablets by using X-ray CT. Method: Thirty-two CT image slices of four kinds of commercial press-coated tablets (tablets A, B, C, and D) were measured 300 m interval between edges of the tablet by using an X-ray CT. The thinnest layer thickness of the tablets and distance between centers of gravity (DCG) of tables were calculated. Results: The order of the TLT of the tablets was tablet B > tablet C > tablet D > tablet A. The result indicated that the order of DCG was tablet A > tablet D > tablet C > tablet B. Noninvasive observation of the internal structure of commercial, press-coated tablets by X-ray CT has been demonstrated to be useful in quality control of production. Conclusion: The internal structure of press-coated tablets could be observed without pretreatment, without destruction, and very rapidly by X‐ray CT.     

Minimum void ratio characteristic of soils containing non-plastic fines

The minimum void ratio is an index widely used to indicate the contraction characteristics and the densest state of soils. The minimum void ratio obtained by the traditional test method has been utilized to represent the density of soils irrespective of their fines content despite the restriction (FC ≤ 5%). By considering the effect of the blow count, pore water, and their primary properties, the applicability of the minimum void ratio to soils containing fines was examined with an automatic tapping machine. It was confirmed that the blow count of the traditional method is not sufficient for soils with a high fines content. Furthermore, the presence of pore water had a significant effect on the minimum void ratio of soils containing fines. The characteristics of the cyclic minimum void ratio, which indicates the minimum void ratio obtained throughout the repetition of liquefaction and drainage, were also examined.     

The study of metal ion release and cytotoxicity in Co–Cr–Mo and Ti–Al–V alloy in total knee prosthesis – scanning electron microscopic observation

We surgically retrieved two cobalt(Co)–chromium(Cr)–molybdenum(Mo) and five titanium(Ti)–aluminum(Al)–vanadium(V) alloy knee prostheses from patients because of mechanical failure and pain. We examined the distribution of the small particles which were released from the Co–Cr–Mo and Ti–Al–V alloys using a backscattered scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In addition we analyzed the metals in the artificial knee joints and the tissues adjacent to them using energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). We demonstrated that a myriad of fine particles, produced by the abrasion of both Co–Cr–Mo and Ti–Al–V alloys, accumulated in the synovial cells. As Co–Cr–Mo alloys disintegrate easily in the cells, Co dissolves from the peripheral areas of them, although Cr remains within the cells. In contrast Ti–Al–V alloys are very stable in the synovial cells. From these findings we conclude that the Co–Cr–Mo alloys are hazardous to the body as the alloys release Co which enters the body. In contrast the Ti–Al–V alloys are very stable and are patently safer. Artificial joints, however, are still in considerable need of improvement.     

A new desk-top encounter-type haptic device with an actively driven pen-tablet LCD panel

In conventional haptic devices for virtual reality (VR) systems, a user interacts with a scene by handling a tool (such as a pen) using a mechanical device (i.e. an end-effector-type haptic device). In the case that the device can ‘mimic’ a VR object, the user can interact directly with the VR object without the mechanical constraint of a device (i.e. an encounter-type haptic device). A new challenge of an encounter-type haptic device is displaying the visuals and haptic information simultaneously on a single device. We are proposing a new desk-top encounter-type haptic device with an actively driven pen-tablet LCD panel. The proposed device is capable of providing pseudo-3D visuals and haptic information on a single device. As the result, the system provides to the user a sense of interaction with a real object. To develop a proof-of-concept prototype, a compact parallel mechanism was developed and implemented. The aim of this research is to propose a new concept in haptic research. In this paper, the concept, the prototype, and some preliminary evaluation tests with the proposed system are presented.