Test research in Japan

Surveys recent research activities in test technology for computers, focusing on the results of university researchers. They cover test-pattern generation, fault simulation, design for testability, built-in self-test, and self-checking     

Application of mixed-integer linear programming in multiterm expansion planning under multiobjectives

A procedure to expand plant capacities over a time horizon is presented under multiobjectives. A stepwise interactive approach has been proposed to formulate a problem that is small but complete enough to provide a best-compromise solution for decision-making. The approach relies on the relaxation of flexible constraints and the sensitivity analysis of linear programming. It yields the significant feature of identifying the expansion increments associated with specific objectives or with structural infeasibility. The resulting multiobjective mixed-integer linear programming problem was solved advantageously by an interactive goal programming algorithm. An illustrative example is provided to clarify the procedure and show its computational effectiveness.     

Hydroxyl radical generation after the third hour following ischemia contributes to brain damage

The effects of 10 antiallergic drugs (astemizole, azelastine, ebastine, emedastine, epinastine, ketotifen, oxatomide, terfenadine, pemirolast and tranilast) on neuronal dopamine uptake were examined. Some drugs examined showed a concentration-dependent inhibition of [3H]dopamine uptake into synaptosomal preparations of the rat striatum. The inhibition constant (Ki) values were 231-876 nM for ebastine, terfenadine, oxatomide and astemizole. The specific binding of [3H] (1-[2-(diphenylmethoxy)ethyl]-4-(3-phenylpropyl)piperazine) (GBR12935) to the rat striatal membranes was also inhibited by these antiallergic drugs. There was a good correlation between the degrees of inhibition of [3H]dopamine uptake and [3H]GBR12935 binding. Then, the behavioral excitement induced by L-DOPA (100 mg/kg, s.c.) plus pargyline hydrochloride (80 mg/kg, i.p.) in mice was significantly enhanced by i.p. treatment with ebastine (10 mg/kg) and astemizole (5 mg/kg). These results suggest that the neuronal dopamine uptake is inhibited by some antiallergic drugs, especially ebastine.     

Direct retinal projections to GRP neurons in the suprachiasmatic nucleus of the rat

The retinal projections to gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP)-expressing neurons in the rat suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) were investigated by double immunofluorescence and immunoelectron microscopy. Optic nerve terminals labeled by cholera toxin B subunit (CTb) which was transported from the retinal ganglion cells were intermingled with GRP-immunoreactive cell bodies and processes in the ventrolateral portion of the SCN. Ultrastructural analysis revealed that CTb-immunoreactive retinal terminals made synaptic contacts with GRP-immunoreactive dendritic processes. These results demonstrated that photic information is directly input from the optic nerve to GRP neurons in the SCN and these GRP neurons may be involved in circadian entrainment by light.     

Evaluation of a mirror-polishing technique for fluorocarbon polymer surfaces for reduction of contamination from containers used in ultratrace analysis

A mirror-polishing technique for fluorocarbon polymer surfaces using high-precision diamond cutting tools was developed. The goal of this technique was the reduction of ultratrace elemental analysis contamination levels of containers fabricated from such mirror-polished materials. Remarkably smooth inner surfaces with degrees of flatness of 0.1 μm peak-to-valley (PTV) for containers fabricated from mirror-polished PTFE materials were obtained, in contrast to degrees of surface flatness of more than 30 μm PTV for commercially available PTFE containers. (Here, PTV denotes the difference between the highest peak and deepest valley in a scanned area of 10 × 10 μm.) Extractable impurity levels for mirror-polished PTFE container surfaces were reduced by more than 1 order of magnitude relative to those of unpolished PTFE containers. The surface conditions of the PTFE containers were observed by atomic force and scanning electron microscopy. The microphotographs so obtained suggest that the degree of surface smoothness of the containers is proportional to their ultratrace metallic contamination levels.     

Steady-state operation analysis of an ideal heat integrated distillation column

A systematic approach for the steady-state operation analysis of chemical processes is pro-posed.The method affords the possibility of taking operation resilience into consideration during thestage of process design.It may serve the designer as an efficient means for the initial screening ofalternative design schemes.An ideal heat integrated distillation column(HIDiC),without any reboileror condenser attached,is studied throughout this work.It has been found that among the various va-riables concerned with the ideal HIDiC,feed thermal condition appears to be the only factor exertingsignificant influences on the interaction between the top and the bottom control loops.Maximuminteraction is expected when the feed thermal condition approaches 0.5.Total number of stages andheat transfer rate are essential to the system ability of disturbance rejection.Therefore,more stagesand higher heat transfer rate ought to be preferred.But,too many stages and higher heat transfer ratemay increase the load of the compres     

DCOB: Action space for reinforcement learning of high DoF robots

Reinforcement learning (RL) for robot control is an important technology for future robots since it enables us to design a robot’s behavior using the reward function. However, RL for high degree-of-freedom robot control is still an open issue. This paper proposes a discrete action space DCOB which is generated from the basis functions (BFs) given to approximate a value function. The remarkable feature is that, by reducing the number of BFs to enable the robot to learn quickly the value function, the size of DCOB is also reduced, which improves the learning speed. In addition, a method WF-DCOB is proposed to enhance the performance, where wire-fitting is utilized to search for continuous actions around each discrete action of DCOB. We apply the proposed methods to motion learning tasks of a simulated humanoid robot and a real spider robot. The experimental results demonstrate outstanding performance.     

Cyclic loading tests on a non-compression brace considering performance-based seismic design

This paper proposes a brace whose strength, plastic deformation capacity remaining after yield and energy absorption capacity under seismic loading can be easily evaluated for performance-based seismic design. The proposed brace consists of a slender rod with tensile-connected ends incorporating a beveled washer and wedge. There is no buckling in the brace. The wedge slides between a washer and stand so as to prevent brace looseness due to axial plastic deformation under repeated loading.To verify the brace’s mechanism and performance, repeated horizontal loading tests were performed on a one-story bay frame with a tensile-connected brace having a wedge device.Results and conclusions obtained from the loading tests are summarized as follows.(1) Perfect elasto-plastic hysteresis was observed until the wedge’s sliding displacement reached its maximum. (2) Story shear stiffness, strength and energy absorption capacity were easily evaluated. (3) Plastic deformation capacity remaining after an earthquake can be evaluated by checking the wedge’s total sliding displacement. (4) Performance-based design can be easily achieved with this brace.     

Feasibility Study of a Novel Technique for Measurement of Liquid Thermal Conductivity with a Micro-beam Sensor

A new method was proposed to measure the thermal conductivity of liquids with infinitesimal samples, which are much smaller than those required in conventional methods. The method utilizes a micro-beam-type MEMS sensor fabricated across a trench on a silicon substrate. Numerical analysis of heat conduction within and around a uniformly heated sensor showed that the temperature of a 10 μm long sensor reached a steady state within approximately 0.1ms, after the start of heating. It was also revealed that the average temperature of the sensor at the steady state was higher in liquids with lower thermal conductivity. These results demonstrate a new idea of measuring the thermal conductivity of liquids within an extremely short time at a steady state before the onset of natural convection.     

α-Synuclein and DJ-1 as Potential Biological Fluid Biomarkers for Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the most common form of movement disorder and affects approximately 4% of the population aged over 80 years old. Currently, PD cannot be prevented or cured, and no single diagnostic biomarkers are available. Notably, recent studies suggest that two familial PD-linked molecules, α-synuclein and DJ-1, are present in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and that their levels may be altered during the progression of PD. In this regard, sensitive and accurate methods for evaluation of α-synuclein and DJ-1 levels in the CSF and blood have been developed, and the results suggest that the levels of both molecules are significantly decreased in the CSF in patients with PD compared with age-matched controls. Furthermore, specific detection and quantification of neurotoxic oligometric forms of α-synuclein in the blood using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays might be expected as potential peripheral biomarkers for PD, although further validation is required. Currently, neither α-synuclein nor DJ-1 is satisfactory as a single biomarker for PD, but combinatory evaluation of these biological fluid molecules with other biomarkers and imaging techniques may provide reliable information for diagnosis of PD.