Hardware system of the Earth Simulator

The Earth Simulator (ES), developed under the Japanese government’s initiative “Earth Simulator project”, is a highly parallel vector supercomputer system. In this paper, an overview of ES, its architectural features, hardware technology and the result of performance evaluation are described.

In May 2002, the ES was acknowledged to be the most powerful computer in the world: 35.86 teraflop/s for the LINPACK HPC benchmark and 26.58 teraflop/s for an atmospheric general circulation code (AFES). Such a remarkable performance may be attributed to the following three architectural features; vector processor, shared-memory and high-bandwidth non-blocking interconnection crossbar network.

The ES consists of 640 processor nodes (PN) and an interconnection network (IN), which are housed in 320 PN cabinets and 65 IN cabinets. The ES is installed in a specially designed building, 65 m long, 50 m wide and 17 m high. In order to accomplish this advanced system, many kinds of hardware technologies have been developed, such as a high-density and high-frequency LSI, a high-frequency signal transmission, a high-density packaging, and a high-efficiency cooling and power supply system with low noise so as to reduce whole volume of the ES and total power consumption.

For highly parallel processing, a special synchronization means connecting all nodes, Global Barrier Counter (GBC), has been introduced.     

Pure delay effects on speech quality in telecommunications

The effect of transmission delay on speech quality in telecommunications is described, with human factors such as conversational mode and the talker's knowledge of the cause of delay taken into account. Objective quality estimation methods for delay effects are proposed, and these methods are applied in an actual communications network. In connection with delay perception in a telephone conversation, the assumption was verified that a talker expects a particular response time from a partner, and that delay that is outside this expectation time window is noticed. Taking this information into account, a subjective conversational experiment is controlled by six kinds of tasks by varying the temporal characteristics. Thus, a subjective assessment of delay effects is obtained by laboratory tests in relation to the detectability threshold, opinion rating, and conversational efficiency. Objective quality measures for each test were defined as a linear combination of temporal parameters that correspond closely to subjective qualities     

TEM characterization of Ge precipitates in an Al-1.6at% Ge alloy

The growth mechanism and morphology of Ge precipitates in an Al-Ge alloy was characterized by a combination of in-situ transmission electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and three-dimensional electron tomography. Anisotropic growth of rod-shaped Ge precipitates was observed by in-situ transmission electron microscopy over different time periods, and faceting of the precipitates was clearly seen using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and three-dimensional electron tomography. This anisotropic growth of rod-shaped Ge precipitates was enhanced by vacancy concentration as proposed previously, but also by surface diffusion as observed during the in-situ experiment. Furthermore, a variety of precipitate morphologies was identified by three-dimensional electron tomography.     

激光诱发光致发光光谱分析在宝石学中的应用——以钻石为例

确定钻石的颜色成因如今已变得越来越重要. 事实上相似颜色的钻石有不同的颜色成因, 如天然的、辐照的、 HPHT处理的或合成的. 借助拉曼显微镜Renishaw Ramanscope System 100B和用514 nm的Ar激光作激发源, 用液氮在-150℃条件下对钻石进行测定, 来研究激光诱发光致发光分析用于确定钻石颜色成因的可靠性.     

Preparation of an activity-inhibiting monoclonal antibody against human placental aromatase cytochrome P450

We produced a murine monoclonal antibody (MAb) to human placental aromatase cytochrome P450. This MAb, designated MAb3-2C2, was selected on its ability to suppress aromatase activity. The specificity of this MAb was assessed by selective immunoprecipitation of 125I-labeled aromatase cytochrome P450 as well as by the identification of a 55-kDa protein, which was enriched and purified by immunoaffinity chromatography on a MAb-coupled Sepharose 4B column. The MAb was able to suppress both human placental and ovarian microsomal aromatase. Species differences of aromatase were recognized by MAb3-2C2 on the basis of differential immunosuppression of aromatase activity. The antibody had no effect on non-aromatase cytochrome P450s. MAb3-2C2 gave negative results with human placental aromatase P450 in the Western blot analysis. The data presented indicate that MAb3-2C2 is specific for aromatase cytochrome P450 and that its epitope is located in a fragile tertiary conformation of the enzyme, thus making it capable of sensitively affecting catalysis.     

Perceptual QoS assessment technologies for VoIP

Since quality is not generally guaranteed in an IP network, the proper design and management of networks and/or terminals for high-quality voice over IP services and maintenance of service levels is important. In terms of quality design and management, methodologies for appropriately and effectively evaluating the perceptual QoS of VoIP are indispensable. This article gives an overview of the state of the art of quality assessment technologies for VoIP, including recent work on improving their accuracy.     

Speech coding technology for ATM networks

A type of speech coding for asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) is described. Cell processing, which improves service quality, is taken into account. Missing-cell recovery methods are discussed, and the distinctive features of missing-cell recovery methods used with low-bit-rate coding are examined. An example of the speech quality obtained using speech coding techniques in the ATM networks is described. The performance levels for increasing cell loss are compared for various speech coding methods, in combination with methods for dividing coded speech signals into cells and discarding cells. Representative feasible network applications of coding technologies are considered     

A highly sensitive method for quantifying gallocatechin gallate and its epimer using a catechin-specific peptide

We have developed a method for quantifying gallocatechin gallate (GCg) and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCg) using a catechin-binding peptide (part of the 67-kDa laminin receptor). Using micro titer plates, we investigated various conditions, including the quantifiable range of EGCg concentrations, the optimal concentration of the catechin-binding peptide, and the optimal reaction conditions. In this microplate assay, after each well was coated with bovine serum albumin, sample containing GCg and EGCg was added at pH 8.0, and allowed to stand at 37 °C for 2 h. After washing, biotinylated-peptide solution was added at 1 μg mL^?1 and allowed to react for 1 h at 37 °C. Each well was added with streptavidin–horseradish peroxidase conjugate, followed by chromogenic reaction for 25 min at room temperature. After the reaction, absorbance was measured at 405 nm. Our method is capable of quantifying EGCg in the range of approximately 0.1–2.0 mg L^?1 with a high degree of sensitivity and a high correlation (R² = 0.98) between EGCg concentration and absorbance. The method was specific to GCg and EGCg and seems capable of estimating GCg and EGCg contents in the presence of other catechin compounds. The method is simple and highly sensitive for quantitative GCg and EGCg measurement that requires no special equipment or operation and can measure multiple samples simultaneously.     

A model for evaluating talker echo and sidetone in a telephonetransmission network

An objective evaluation model called OPINE (overall performance index model for network evaluation) which is being studied for telephone transmission quality is described. The model estimates an MOS (mean opinion score) by summing psychological values on independent psychological factors, given the physical values of fundamental listening factors such as loss and noise. For the model to incorporate new talking factors such as talker echo and sidestone, evaluation characteristics are studied when both listening and talking factors are present in a telephone transmission system. The interaction of the listening and talking factors is discussed, and it is shown experimentally that these factors are independent of fundamental listening factors. From these results, an extended OPINE is proposed by establishing new psychological factors: talker echo and sidestone. The estimated MOS for composite conditions of listening and talking factors agrees well within the confidence interval of subjective MOS deviation     

Anodic behaviour of a metallic U-Pu-Zr alloy during electrorefining process

Electrorefining tests of the non-irradiated U-Pu-Zr alloy were performed in LiCl-KCl-UCl₃-PuCl₃-ZrCl₄ melts at 773 K, aiming at reduced Zr dissolution. The tests were carried out both using potentiostatic electrolysis at −1.0 V (vs. Ag⁺/Ag), i.e. at a more negative potential than the Zr dissolution potential, and galvanostatic electrolysis with a limited amount of Zr dissolution. The ICP-AES analysis of the anode residues confirmed that a high dissolution yield of actinides (U: >99.6%, Pu: 99.9%) was successfully demonstrated for both electrolyses.