Analysis and evaluations of logical instructions called in parallel digital optical operations based on optical array logic

The authors have analysed and evaluated a two-dimensional instruction set of parallel operation based on optical array logic (OAL), which is a digital optical computing paradigm, to clarify efficient composition of an optical computing system based on OAL. To evaluate parallel operation based on OAL, the author have introduced new indices and evaluated a logical instruction set of various parallel operations with the indices, so that a guideline for composing a simple and efficient OAL computing system is clarified. Also, the authors have proposed the reduced operation kernel set correlation technique to perform parallel operations more efficiently by a simple OAL computing system. It has been clarified that the technique can reduce the required hardware necessary for an OAL computing system for efficient general-purpose processing.     

Fabrication of 5.8‐in. OTFT‐driven flexible color AMOLED display using dual protection scheme for organic semiconductor patterning

Abstract— A 5.8‐in. wide‐QQVGA flexible color active‐matrix organic light‐emitting‐diode (AMOLED) display consisting of organic thin‐film transistors (OTFTs) and phosphorescent OLEDs was fabricated on a plastic film. To reduce the operating voltage of the OTFTs, Ta₂O₅ with a high dielectric constant was employed as a gate insulator. Pentacene was used for the semiconductor layer of the OTFTs. This layer was patterned by photolithography and dry‐etched using a dual protection layer of poly p‐xylylene and SiO₂ film. Uniform transistor performance was achieved in the OTFT backplane with QQVGA pixels. The RGB emission layers of the pixels were formed by vacuum deposition of phosphorescent small molecules. The resulting display could clearly show color moving images even when it was bent and operated at a low driving voltage (below 15 V).     

The heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics of finned tube banks in forced convection (effects of fin height on pressure drop characteristics)

In recent years the requirement for the reduction of energy consumption has been increasing to solve the problems of global warming and the shortage of petroleum resources. For example, in the power generation field, as thermal power generation occupied 60% of the power generation demand, considerable improvement of the thermal efficiency is required. This paper describes the pressure drop characteristics of finned tube banks used for heat exchangers in thermal power generation that were clarified by testing serrated finned tube banks with different fin heights for improved heat transfer and conventional spiral finned tube banks with different fin heights, and an equation to predict pressure drop which is necessary for the heat exchanger design is proposed. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res, 35(3): 179–193, 2006; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/htj.20112     

K-winners-take-all circuit with O(N) complexity

Presents a k-winners-take-all circuit that is an extension of the winner-take-all circuit by Lazzaro et al. (1989). The problem of selecting the largest k numbers is formulated as a mathematical programming problem whose solution scheme, based on the Lagrange multiplier method, is directly implemented on an analog circuit. The wire length in this circuit grows only linearly with the number of elements, and the circuit is more suitable for real-time processing than the Hopfield networks because the present circuit produces the solution almost instantaneously-in contrast to the Hopfield network, which requires transient convergence to the solution from a precise initial state. The selection resolution in the present circuit is, however, only finite in contrast to the almost infinite resolution in the Hopfield networks.     

Lightweight Boolean Network Tomography Based on Partition of Managed Networks

Boolean network tomography is a promising technique to achieve fault management in networks where the existing IP-based troubleshooting mechanism cannot be used. Aiming to apply Boolean network tomography to fault management, a variety of heuristic methods for configuring monitoring trails and paths have been proposed to localize link failures in managed networks. However, these existing heuristic methods must be executed in a centralized server that administers the entire managed network and the methods present scalability problems when applied to large-scale managed networks. Thus, this paper proposes a novel scheme for achieving lightweight Boolean network tomography in a decentralized manner. The proposed scheme partitions the managed network into multiple management areas and localizes link failures independently within each area. This paper also proposes a heuristic network partition method with the aim of efficiently implementing the proposed scheme. The effectiveness of the proposed scheme is verified using typical fault management scenarios where all single-link failures and all dual-link failures are localized by the least number of monitoring paths on predetermined routes. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme can greatly reduce the computational load on the fault management server when Boolean network tomography is deployed in large-scale managed networks. Furthermore, the degradation of optimality in the proposed scheme can be mitigated in comparison with a centralized scheme that utilizes heuristics to reduce the computational load on the centralized server.     

Supercritical fluid extraction of fungal oil using CO2, N2O,CHF3 and SF6

The extraction of oil from fungi (Mortierella ramanniana var.angulispora) was studied using carbon dioxide (CO₂), nitrous oxide (N₂O), trifluoromethane (CHF₃) and sulfur hexafluoride (SF₆) under supercritical conditions. The oil solubility was highest in SC-N₂O followed by SC-CO₂, while both SC-CHF₃ and SC-SF₆ showed poorer solvent power. The recorded oil solubilities at 333 K and 24.5 MPa were 2.3 wt% in N₂O, 0.48 wt% in CO₂, 0.0099 wt% in CHF₃ and 0.0012 wt% in SF₆. The oil solubilities in SC-N₂O and SC-CO₂ were measured over the pressure range 15.7–29.4 MPa and at temperatures ranging from 313–353 K. N₂O always showed greater solvent power than did CO₂ at the same temperature and pressure. The solvent power of a supercritical fluid increases with density at a given temperature, and increases with temperature at constant density. The change in neutral lipid composition of the extracted oil with the extraction ratio was measured. Free fatty acids or diglycerides were extracted more easily than triglycerides or sterol esters. The change in fatty acid composition was also measured. The proportion of γ-linolenic acid in the extract remained constant throughout the extraction.     

Meter-scale large area LED-embedded light fabric for the application of fabric ceilings in rooms

We have developed a meter-scale light emitting diode (LED)-embedded light fabric and its weaving machine for application to a light device for fabric ceilings, which have recently become desired for lightweight safe ceilings in Japan and other countries with frequent earthquakes. The LED fabric structure is 1.2-m-wide woven fabric that has 5-mm-wide LED chip-mounted printed circuit board (PCB) tapes as wefts. LEDs are mounted on the tape of PCBs with a reel-to-reel chip mounting system. Then, the LED-mounted tapes are woven with a developed automatic looming machine that aligns the weft with an accuracy of 0.9 mm, which is suitable for precise arrangement of LEDs and wiring to power supply. A 1.2 × 1.2 m LED-embedded light fabric weighing 320 g/m² was woven. The luminance of the LED fabric is 353 lx at a distance of 1 m, which is the luminance of conventional office lighting. The temperature increase of LEDs without a rigid cooling aluminum plate is only 5.8 °C, and the LED fabric is flexible enough to sustain 1,000 bends down to a radius of 3 mm. This LED fabric and its weaving technology will lead to light devices that have lightweight, large area, and high flexibility for fabric ceilings, walls, and other large areas in homes and offices.     

Novel Structures for Porous Silicon Light-Emitting Diodes

In this paper, two novel structures of porous silicon (PS) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are proposed aiming at the reduction of series resistance, R_s. The basic idea of the novel structures is to suppress the excessive growth of nanoporous silicon (nano-PS) layer that is electroluminescence- (EL-) active but highly resistive. The initial wafer of the first structure consists of a lightly-doped layer stacked on a highly-doped substrate. As a consequence of anodization, nano-PS layer is formed only in the lightly-doped layer, while meso-PS layer with moderate resistivity is formed in the highly-doped substrate. The second structure consists of alternately stacked nano- and meso-PS layers, since it is expected that multiple thin nano-PS layers connected in series are less resistive than a single thick nano-PS layer. Preliminary experimental results proved the effectiveness of these novel structures on the reduction of R_s.     

Reduction of fatty acid hydroperoxides by human parotid saliva

Arachidonic acid hydroperoxide (15-hydroperoxyeicosatetraenoic acid; 15-HPETE) was introduced into human parotid saliva and incubated at 37°C. Straight phase high-performance liquid chromatography analysis of the reaction mixture showed that 15-HPETE was detoxified to its reduced form, 15-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid, in the presence of glutathione. Therefore, it is concluded that human parotid saliva possesses fatty acid hydroperoxide-reducing ability. However, its effectiveness was found to be lower than that of blood plasma.