Impact of crosstalk in an arrayed-waveguide multiplexer onN×N optical interconnection

The impact of crosstalk in an arrayed-waveguide N×N wavelength multiplexer is investigated precisely in relation to its application to wavelength-routing N×N all optical networks. In such systems multiple crosstalk light which has the same wavelength as the signal results in signal-crosstalk beat noise. We confirm that the noise is Gaussian and obtain the relation between crosstalk and power penalty. It is shown that the crosstalk must be less than -38 dB for a 16×16 system to keep the power penalty below 1 dB at a bit error rate of 10^-9     

Selective hydrogenation of oleic acid to 9-octadecen-1-ol: Catalyst preparation and optimum reaction conditions

A new catalyst, ruthenium-tin-alumina is found to selectively hydrogenate oleic acid to 9-octadecen-1-ol (oleyl + elaidyl alcohol) at low pressure with high yield. Catalyst preparation methods, catalyst raw materials and activation conditions have a significant effect on the activity of the catalyst. The optimum atomic ratio of ruthenium to tin is about 1:2. Catalyst prepared by an improved sol-gel method shows higher activity and selectivity than catalysts prepared by impregnation and coprecipitation methods. Chloride is found to have a negative effect on catalytic activity. The best catalyst is prepared from chloride-free ruthenium and tin raw materials. Under the optimum reaction conditions of 250°C and 5.6 MPa, the selectivities for 9-octadecen-1-ol and total alcohol (9-octadecen-1-ol + stearyl alcohol) formation are 80.9% and 97%, respectively, at a conversion of 81.3%.     

Oligosaccharide structures formed during the hydrolysis of lactose by Aspergillus oryzae β-galactosidase

Di-, tri-, tetra-, penta- and hexasaccharides were formed during the hydrolysis of lactose by transgalactosylation reaction of Aspergillus oryzae β-galactosidase. In this study the isolation and characterization of the major constituents of tri-, tetra- and pentasaccharides are described. The structure elucidation of 3 tri-, 2 tetra- and 1 pentasaccharides was carried out by methylation analysis, mass spectrometry and ¹³C-nmr spectrometry. The trisaccharides are $\text{O-β-}\text{d}\text{-}\text{galactopyranosyl}\text{-(1 → 3)-O-β-}\text{d}\text{-}\text{galactopyranosyl}\text{-(1 → 4)-}\text{d}\text{-}\text{glucose}\text{(3′-}\text{galactosyl-lactose}\text{)}$, $\text{O-β-}\text{d}\text{-}\text{galactopyranosyl}\text{-(1 → 6)-β-}\text{d}\text{-}\text{galactopyranosyl}\text{-(1 → 4)-}\text{d}\text{-}\text{glucose}\text{(6′-}\text{galactosyl-lactose}\text{)}$ and $\text{O-β-}\text{d}\text{-}\text{galactopyranosyl}\text{-(1 → 4)-O-[β-}\text{d}\text{-}\text{galactopyranosyl}\text{-(1 → 6)]-}\text{d}\text{-}\text{glucose}\text{(4,6-}\text{digalactosyl-glucose}\text{)}$. Tetrasaccharides are $\text{O-β-}\text{d}\text{-}\text{galactopyranosyl}\text{-(1 → 6)-O-β-}\text{d}\text{-}\text{galactopyranosyl}\text{-(1 → 6)-O-β-}\text{d}\text{-}\text{galactopyranosyl}\text{-(1 → 4)-}\text{d}\text{-}\text{glucose}$ and $\text{O-β-}\text{d}\text{-}\text{galactopyranosyl}\text{-(1 → 6)-O-β-}\text{d}\text{-}\text{galactopyranosyl}\text{-(1 → 3)}$ [or $\text{O-β-}\text{d}\text{-}\text{galactopyranosyl}\text{-(1 → 3)-O-β-}\text{d}\text{-}\text{galactopyranosyl}\text{-(1 → 6)]-O-β-}\text{d}\text{-}\text{galactopyranosyl}\text{-(1 → 4)-}\text{d}\text{-}\text{glucose}$. Pentasaccharide is $\text{O-β-}\text{d}\text{-}\text{galactopyranosyl}\text{-(1 → 6)-O-β-}\text{d}\text{-}\text{galactopyranosyl}\text{-(1 → 6)-O-β-}\text{d}\text{-}\text{galactopyranosyl}\text{-(1 → 6)-O-β-}\text{d}\text{-}\text{galactopyranosyl}\text{-(1 → 4)-}\text{d}\text{-}\text{glucose}$.     

Multielectrode DBR laser diode for wide bandwidth and flat FM response

A flat red-shifted FM response over a 1 GHz bandwidth has been achieved in a newly fabricated three-electrode DBR LD. Since the DBR structure makes it possible to tune the wavelength without distorting the FM characteristics, the LD is suitable for transmitters in optical FDM communications using FSK lightwaves.<>     

Changes of activity inducing chromosomal aberrations and transformations of chlorinated humic acid.

The change of the toxicity of chlorinated water after chlorine injection was examined. For the measurement of toxicity, chromosomal aberration test and transforming test were carried out as indexes to initiating activity and to promoting activity in the carcinogenesis process, respectively. Activity inducing chromosomal aberrations of chlorinated humic acid gradually decreased with time after chlorination. In contrast, activity inducing transformations measured by the two-stage assay gradually increased. Thus, the toxicity that decreases or increases is present in chlorinated water. Furthermore, activity inducing transformations measured by the non-two-stage assay gradually decreased. This direction of change was reverse to that of activity inducing transformations by the two-stage assay and consistent with that of activity inducing chromosomal aberrations. It is speculated that the main reason of decreasing activity inducing transformations by the non-two-stage assay is because initiating activity detected as activity inducing chromosomal aberrations in chlorinated water decreases drastically. Directions of changes of total organic halogen and carbonyl group were qualitatively consistent with that of activity inducing chromosomal aberrations. Directions of changes of chloroform and dichloroacetic acid were qualitatively consistent with that of activity inducing transformations by the two-stage assay. Findings of this study suggest that further research is necessary to compare carcinogenicity of tap water near water purification plant and distant tap water.     

20 Gbit/s chirped return-to-zero transmitter with simplifiedconfiguration using electroabsorption modulator

A novel chirped return-to-zero transmitter with a simplified configuration that uses an electro-absorption modulator is proposed. Using this transmitter, high fibre input power is achieved (up to +14 dbm) in repeaterless 20 Gbit/s transmission over standard singlemode fibres     

Optical FDM transmission technique

This paper surveys the present state of optical frequency-division multiplexing (optical FDM) technologies. Utilizing a broad optical frequency bandwidth up to several hundred terahertz, optical FDM is expected to find applications in large-capacity trunking and local distribution networks. The present state of the related technologies and the future prospects for these applications are discussed.     

Some taxonomical characteristics of encapsulated Lactobacillus sp. KPB-167B isolated from kefir grains and characterization of its extracellular polysaccharide

A capsular polysaccharide-producing strain KPB-167B isolated from kefir grains was identified as a homofermentative Lactobacillus. The carbohydrate fermentation pattern and DNA base composition of the strain were different from those of other capsular Lactobacillus species previously isolated from kefir grains. The polysaccharide produced by Lactobacillus sp. KPB-167B was found similar to kefiran by 13C-NMR and methylation analysis. Lactobacillus sp. KPB-167B could grow and produce capsular polysaccharide in MRSL medium with better yield than L. kefiranofaciens, which suggested that it is suitable for kefiran production.     

Dynamic load balancing among multiple fabrication lines through estimation of minimum inter-operation time

We propose a load balancing method which balances all processing operations of products among multiple semiconductor wafer fabrication lines (fabs) by using predictive scheduling results. Through a simulation experiment we confirmed that the proposed method enabled improved load balancing (compared to conventional methods) among multiple fabrication lines each of which can independently fabricate wafers and has different wafer processing capacity. The load balancing feature effectively reduces the waiting time at each process step and the lead time of all products in multiple fabs. Another promising application of the proposed method is performance evaluation of automated material handling systems (AMHS) in terms of inter-operation time, and we have used the method to evaluate the transportation efficiency of actual fabs.     

Three‐dimensional numerical analysis on discharge properties of microwave excited ring dielectric line surface wave processing plasma device

A three‐dimensional simulation code with the finite difference time domain (FDTD) method combined with the electron fluid model has been developed for the microwave excited surface wave plasma in the RDL‐SWP device. This code permits the three‐dimensional numerical analysis of the spatial distributions of electric field, power absorption, electron density, and electron temperature. At a low gas pressure (about 10 mTorr), the numerical results were compared with the experimental measurements that show the validity of this 3D simulation code. A simplified analysis assuming that the electron density is spatially uniform has also been studied and its applicability is evaluated by the comparison of the 3D simulation and the analytical solutions. The surface wave eigenmodes are determined by the electron density, and it is found that the structure of the device strongly influences the spatial distribution of the electric fields of surface waves in a low‐density area (n_e < 3.0 × 10¹¹ cm^?3). A method to irradiate by microwave the whole surface area of the plasma is proposed. The method is found to be effective in obtaining a high uniformity distribution of electron density. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 150(4): 1–12, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.10333