bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Interaction between technological parameters and crystal quality during the crystal growth of silicon crystals, free from dislocations
Authors: Geil W. , Schmugge K.
Published: July 2007

Bei der Züchtung versetzungsfreier Siliziumeinkristalle treten Strukturdefekte auf, die, ausgehend von Punktdefekten, über Cluster zu Versetzungen führen. Für die Züchtung von versetzungsfreien Siliziumeinkristallen ist es deshalb von Bedeutung, Wechselwirkungen zwischen technologischen Parametern und Kristalleigenschaften zu kennen. Unter Verwendung der von de Kock, Roksnoer und Boonen ermittelten Temperatur, bei der die Neubildung von Versetzungen beginnt, und unter Berücksichtigung des axialen Temperaturgradienten lassen sich für unterschiedliche Radien Versetzungsgeschwindigkeiten der Art

berechnen, die sich mit einer ähnlichen Funktion für die Wachstumsgeschwindigkeit des Kristalls

vergleichen lassen. Aus diesem Vergleich ist es möglich, unter Berücksichtigung des Dotierstoffes und seiner Konzentration, für den technologischen Prozeß der Kristallzüchtung Wertepaare vZ und dT/dz abzuleiten, bei deren Anwendung die Züchtung von versetzungsfreien Siliziumeinkristallen noch gewährleistet ist.
The Applicability of Light‐Microscopical Methods for the Investigation of Dislocation Structure in Semiconductors
Authors: Löschke K. , Gottschalch V. , Jacobs K. , Tempel A.
Published: July 2007

In this paper is demonstrated that the well known and simple light‐microscopical methods allow to investigate a variety of defect structure problems and can give more useful informations than generally assumed. A summary of the techniques is given. Preliminary results of the investigations on GaP samples obtained by ultramicroscopy, dark‐field illumination, and polarization microscopy are shown for illustration.
Density and mobility of anti‐frenkel defects in SrF2 crystals
Authors: Bollmann W.
Published: July 2007

By fitting the theoretically calculated temperature‐dependent conductivity σ to the measured dependencies log σT ÷ 1/T the following parameters have been determined: free formation enthalpy of anti‐Frenkel defects gAF = 2.05 eV – 6.35 kT; mobilities of F−ion vacancies F and interstitials F: vνT = 600 exp (‐0.70 eV/kT) cm2 K/Vs, viT = 1.1 · 104 exp (‐0.93 eV/kT) cm2 K/Vs. — The free association enthalpies of complexes consisting of single foreign ions (Sc3+, Y3+, La3+, Sm3+, Li+, K+, Na+, O−) and the charge‐compensating defect were obtained. The vibration frequency of F− ions in the neighbourhood of F and F is changed by a factor of 2.6 and 0.6, respectively.
The influence of inhibitors on the growth of barium sulfate crystals in suspension: Scale prevention (II)
Authors: van Rosmalen G. M. , van der Leeden M. C. , Gouman J.
Published: July 2007

The inhibiting influence of four organic bisphosphonates with different substituents on the growth rate of barium sulfate crystals, suspended in a supersaturated solution, has been investigated. The growth process has been studied conductometrically. Plots of both the relative supersaturation versus time and the mean linear rate versus the growth affinity have been given. — The results have been interpreted using a hypothesis, stating that growth inhibition occurs due to simultaneous coordination of the cations and hydrogen bonding of the anions at the active growth spots on the crystal surface.
On the backscattering factor in quantitative Auger electron spectroscopy of binary alloys
Authors: Berndt H. , Streubel P. , Meisel A.
Published: July 2007

The matrix dependent relative sensitivity factor Srel(c) is considered for use in quantitative Auger analysis. It is affected by matrix dependent factors like the backscattering factor, the escape depth of Auger electrons and the number of atoms per unit volume. The backscattering factor, especially, is evaluated and possibilities of its determination are shown. Measurements of Auger intensities and of the energy distribution of backscattered electrons were carried out for this purpose on a series of CuPd and CuSb alloys, respectively. The backscattering factor thus obtained is compared with values resulting from a formula of JABLONSKI and by experimental data of SMITH and GALLON.
Thermal decomposition of partially Mg2+‐exchanged forms of zeolite A investigated by DTA‐and X‐ray high temperature methods
Authors: Schmitz W. , Siegel H. , Schöllner R.
Published: July 2007

Only the application of high temperature X‐ray diffraction and DTA‐methods results in an uncontradicted explanation of processes occuring at thermal decomposition of NaA‐and Mg2+‐exchanged zeolite in the temperature region of 700 to 1100°C. Decomposition of NaA‐zeolite takes place depending on time and temperature in the following sequence: NaA‐zeolite – amorphous phase – carnegieite – nepheline. Zeolites with degrees of exchange of magnesium ions above 50% on the other hand decompose at increasing temperature sucessively to the following phases: NaMgA‐zeolite – amorphous phase – spinel, mullite and amorphous SiO2.
X‐ray determination of mean square amplitudes of lattice oscillations in ZnSiP2
Authors: Deus P. , Schneider H. A. , Voland U.
Published: July 2007

The mean square amplitudes of lattice oscillations are investigated in ZnSiP2 monocrystals and powders in a temperature range of 77 … 600 K and 90 … 300 K resp. A simple method developed for a sphalerite lattice is used interpreting the chalcopyrite lattice as sphalerite with a cation mass of 1/2(mZn + mSi). According to the theoretical expectation the dynamical amplitudes of oscillation of the P‐sublattice are smaller than those of the cationsublattice because of the mass ratio of the ions in the sublattices and the small gap between acoustical and optical phonons.
Surface relaxation of a crystal plate with a step‐like distribution of impurity atoms
Authors: Härtwig J.
Published: July 2007

The deformation of a crystal plate with a step‐like distribution of dilatation centres is calculated according to the isotropic theory of elasticity. Analytical expressions for quantities which are interest for interpreting and calculating X‐ray intensity distributions are derived and discussed.
Electronic absorption spectra of lead iodide
Authors: Gobinathan R. , Hariharan K. , Ramasamy P.
Published: July 2007

Optical absorption studies on gel grown single crystals and vacuum evaporated thin film of lead iodide have been carried out at room temperature and liquid nitrogen temperature. The exciton peak in the case of gel grown crystal was observed at 4940 Å whereas for the film at 4900 Å. The presence of lead colloids in the film was revealed through a broad featureless band around 5500 Å. The absorption tails in the temperature range from 80 to 300 K are found to obey Urbach rule. Examining the various power law dependences of the observed optical density on photon energy, it has been established that the transition is of direct type resulting in a band gap of 2.53 ev.
New product forecasting
Authors: Assmus Gert
Published: July 2007

Forecasting new‐product performance has been called ‘one of the most difficult and critical management tasks’. It has attracted considerable attention because of the magnitude of the resources devoted to product development and because of the sizeable risks involved in making the go–no‐go decisions. In comparison with forecasting sales for established products, there is no sales history, or more generally, the company has no product specific experience related to consumer acceptance, trade support and competitive reactions. This article first presents a review of new product forecasting techniques with an emphasis given to the more recent developments in forecasting models. Then, forecasting procedures are assessed by discussing their benefits and their costs. The third part of the article discusses trends in new product forecasting.
The teachers/practitioners corner comparative analysis of load forecasting techniques at a southern utility
Authors: Huss William R.
Published: July 2007

The prime directive of any regulated electric utility is to provide adequate and reliable electricity supplies to the consuming public at reasonable cost. This requires the continual addition of new generating plants which is based on a long term forecast of energy and peak demand. This study documents the forecasting process used at a southern utility and compares the accuracy of their models to that produced using Holt's exponential smoothing and generalized adoptive filtering.
Solving large sparse systems of equations in econometric models
Authors: Don F. J. Henk , Gallo Giampiero M.
Published: July 2007

Comparative studies of Gauss‐Seidel and Newton‐type algorithms for solving large sparse systems of equations are reported by Népomiastchy and Ravelli (1978), Gabay et al. (1980) and Norman et al. (1983). The first two favour Newton's method, the third favours Gauss‐Seidel. Apart from working on different test models, their setups differ in the implementation of both schemes.

This paper studies the performance of both methods on ten different econometric models of varying size and complexity. First the choice of implementation (equation reordering, updating rules for Newton's Jacobian) is studied on a relatively small model. Qualitative and quantitative feedback criteria are considered, and an efficient reordering algorithm is discussed. On the ten models considered, the selected Newton method is almost uniformly cheaper, generally reducing the number of iterations by more than 30 percent A final section draws attention to the possible extra gains of Newton's method in evaluating multipliers for policy analysis.
Operational filtering of traffic data
Authors: Ahmed Samir A.
Published: July 2007

An operational filter of traffic state variables is presented for use in designing computer‐aided traffic surveillance and control systems. A total of 166 data sets from three traffic surveillance systems were used in the filter development. All the data sets were best represented by an ARIMA (0,1,3) filter. This filter has the following advantages: (1) it yields minimum mean‐square‐error forecasts if stationarity of the observations can be obtained; (2) it provides much better results than the existing ad hoc filters; (3) it is computationally tractable; and (4) it requires modest computer storage of data. Suggestions and implications for the use of this filter are given.
Subjective intervention in formal models
Authors: West Mike , Harrison Jeff
Published: July 2007

Success in forecasting using mathematical/statistical models requires that the models be open to intervention by the user. In practice, a model is only one component of a forecasting system, which also includes the users/forecasters as integral components. Interaction between the user and the model is necessary to adequately cater for events and changes that go beyond the existing form of the model. In this paper we consider Bayesian forecasting models open to interventions, of essentially any form, to incorporate subjective information made available to the user. We discuss principles of intervention and derive theoretical results that provide the means to formally incorporate feedforward interventions into Bayesian models. Two example time series are considered to illustrate why and when such interventions may be necessary to sustain predictive performance.
Judgemental revision of sales forecasts: A longitudinal eetension
Authors: Mathews Brian P. , Diamantopoulos A.
Published: July 2007

When quantitative models are used for short‐term multi‐item sales forecasts it is possible that the managers who use such forecasts may disagree with at least some of the estimates obtained, and wish to change them so that they become more consistent with their own (subjective) evaluation of the marketplace. This study reports on an analysis of the effectiveness of judgemental revision of sales forecasts over six quarterly forecasting periods. The results give general support for the practice of forecast manipulation as a means of improving forecasting accuracy. It is also observed that the effectiveness of revision activity varies across different time periods.
The combination of macroeconomic forecasts
Authors: Bischoff Charles W.
Published: July 2007

The paper examines combined forecasts based on two components: forecasts produced by Chase Econometrics and those produced using the Box‐Jenkins ARIMA technique. Six series of quarterly ex ante and simulated ex ante forecasts are used over 37 time periods and ten horizons. The forecasts are combined using seven different methods. The best combined forecasts, judged by average relative root‐mean‐square error, are superior to the Chase forecasts for three variables and inferior for two, though averaged over all six variables the Chase forecasts are slightly better. A two‐step procedure produces forecasts for the last half of the sample which, on average, are slightly better than the Chase forecasts.
Systematic solution of primitive rotation recovery problems of known 3‐D structure from a single view
Authors: Shakunaga Takeshi
Published: July 2007

This paper considers the case where the geometrical model for a 3‐D object is given, and discusses the solution of the problem to cover the rotation of the object from a single (monocular) view image. The rigid body is represented by a set of vectors and the joint is represented by a unit vector corresponding to the rotational axis. For each rigid object, the connecting joint is included. The inner product between unit vectors as well as the scalar triple product are assumed as known. Using such a model, not only the rigid body which has widely been discussed, but also the object composed of rigid bodies and joints with the rotational degree of freedom can be handled by the same framework.

In the previous paper, it was shown that such a problem to determine the rotational posture of the object can be represented by a graph, and the solvability of the problem is discussed. The basic problem represented by the tree structure is formulated.

This paper defines anew the concept of connection index, and classifies the tree‐structured basic problems. For the basic problem with the connection index being 0 and 1, an algorithm is proposed which can estimate the rotations of the rigid subobject. The algorithms have the common structure for each connection index, and can be easily be constructed by defining the geometrical inference inherent to each basic problem. The usefulness of the algorithm is demonstrated through the individual experiments.
Implementation and evaluation of SCSE for OSI secure communications
Authors: Nakao Kouji , Tanaka Toshiaki , Suzuki Kenji , Urano Yoshiyori
Published: July 2007

The authors have proposed a secure communications service element (SCSE) which can provide such security functions as authentification, information confidentiality, and data integrity (prevention of data modification), as application service elements (ASE) in the open‐type system interconnection(OSI) application layer. The proposal is evaluated highly from the viewpoint of OSI protocol design technique to realize the security function.

This paper attempts to verify the realizability of the proposed SCSE and the applicability to OSI communication. Further, it reports on the design of the SCSE software package and the implementation/evaluation. In the implementation/evaluation of the proposed package, especially, it is intended to demonstrate the applicability to OSI communication applications.

As typical examples of SCSE applications, file transfer access and management (FTAM) assuming the totally duplicate communication function in the session layer, as well as document transfer and manipulation (DTAM) assuming the use of the semiduplicate communication function are adopted. Through the verification experiment such as the measurement of the processing load, the practical usefulness and the applicability of SCSE are evaluated. As a result, it is shown that the efficient OSI security communication system can be realized by SCSE. Since the proposed approach can be applied to the totally duplicate and the semiduplicate communications, it is shown that the method is applicable to all OSI communication applications.
Direct match algorithm for production systems
Authors: Kimura Haruhiko , Kobayashi Shin‐Ya , Takebe Tsuyoshi , Sumiyoshi Kazuyuki
Published: July 2007

A production system is a typical tool for constructing an expert system. The Rete algorithm has been used as the condition match in the production system. The Rete algorithm features in that the condition match can executed efficiently by retaining the intermediate result of matching using the data‐flow graph (called Rete network). Efficiency is deteriorated, however, when most of the intermediate results are updated by a single recognition‐action cycle. Moreover, execution time for the condition match increases rapidly with an increase in the working memory elements. From such a viewpoint, this paper proposes a condition match algorithm wherein the intermediate result of matching is not retained, and the number of working memory tuples to be examined is reduced by connecting the common variables among the condition element. The proposed algorithm directly tries the condition match without using the Rete algorithm. The execution time does not increase so rapidly as in the Rete algorithm, but increases only slowly with the increase of the working memory elements. Consequently, the efficiency of the Rete algorithm is better when there are fewer working memory elements, and the efficiency of the proposed method is better when both the number of working memory elements and the computation cost for the condition match are increased. In other words, the proposed algorithm can handle high‐cost rules.
Application of fuzzy theory to handwritten character recognition
Authors: Kimachi Masatoshi , Teshigawara Masaki , Kanayama Kenji
Published: July 2007

There has been much research in recent decades on character recognition methods, and some methods have already been put into practical use. There are many unresolved problems, however, with respect to handwritten character recognition as composed with printed character recognition. The authors considered discriminant functions, which constitute the most important part of a character recognition method. As a result of considering problems of conventional statistical discriminant functions, the authors propose applying the fuzzy theory to discriminant functions. The so‐called fuzzy discriminant function is capable of representing a data distribution in a more flexible manner because it consists of membership functions on the principal axes of learning samples.

The authors conducted recognition experiments for handwritten characters with two types of membership functions. In one type the membership values are directly tuned based on human experiences; in the other they are derived from histograms or statistical data. With the former membership function, the recognition rate of 99.0 percent is achieved for [numeric] characters from the handwritten alphanumeric data base ETL6, and with the latter, the rate of 96.0 percent for [hiragana] characters from handwritten educational [kanji] data base ETL8. This result proves the effectiveness of the fuzzy discriminant function. It also indicates that a dynamic combination of human experiences and statistical techniques is a key to practical systems.
Nonrigid motion tracking of image sequences based on smoothness constraints
Authors: Inagawa Jun , Maejima Tsukasa
Published: July 2007

To estimate the motion and deformation of nonrigid objects accurately from image sequences, this paper proposes a method for nonrigid motion tracking based on smoothness constraints, which have an effect on noise reduction in optical flow computation by a gradient‐based method. The motion of nonrigid objects generally is assumed to be smooth according to such physical properties as inertia and elasticity. Therefore, such smoothness constraints are defined in space (in frame) and time (between frames) as an active net model in formulating an energy functional and Lagrange equation, and the optical flow field derived from image sequences by shape preservation and natural deformation is modified. In addition, applying continuous Kalman filtering theory for long sequences of image frames, it is possible to estimate the temporal continuous deformation of elastic objects. The nonrigid motion tracking is demonstrated by experiments involving the modification of the shape distortion yielded by noise and the reconstruction of the real motion and deformation.
Neocognitron learning by backpropagation
Authors: Ohno Michihiro , Okada Masato , Fukushima Kunihiko
Published: July 2007

In the neural network for pattern recognition, when the selectivity of the feature‐extracting cell is lowered to enhance the generalizing power, a tendency is produced that patterns with similar shapes but belonging to different categories are confused. Because of this property, it has been difficult to en‐hance the discriminating power to separate patterns with similar shapes without deteriorating the generalizing power. If patterns are observed, however, focusing on the features which differ between similar patterns, it will be possible to discriminate similar patterns.

In the earlier neocognitron, the feature‐extracting cell has uniform sensitivity within the receptive field. Then, it is impossible to discriminate patterns by emphasizing the local feature, which is located at a particular position in the receptive field.

This paper proposes a method of learning, where the sensitivity of the feature‐extracting cell is made variable depending on the position in the receptive field, and the sensitivity is adjusted by the error backpropagation. After the learning, the feature‐extracting cell exhibits a high sensitivity at the position where similar patterns have different features. Thus it is made possible to classify similar patterns without deteriorating the generalizing power.
Efficiency of the conflict‐preserving serializable scheduler for object‐oriented databases
Authors: Taniguchi Shinichi , Nishio Shojiro , Kubo Nobuya
Published: July 2007

This paper discusses the concurrency control of the Object‐Oriented Database System (OODBS), and presents a simulation model for the following basic elements which should be considered from the viewpoint of the data structure: (1) the entity should be modeled, based on the concept of object; (2) the definition of the attribute and the method should be inherited based on the class hierarchy; and (3) the composite object should be realized. Based on this model, performance evaluations are conducted on Two‐Phase Locking protocol (2PL) and Conflict‐Preserving Serializable scheduler (CPS). From investigations, so far, on the flat structure, CPS has shown better performance than 2PL. As a result of this study, however, it is shown that in the prominent data structure of OODBS, there exist access conflicts where the optimistic concurrency control such as CPS works effectively, as well as access conflicts where the pessimistic concurrency control such as 2PL works effectively.

Accordingly, this paper proposed a new scheduler called Delayed CPS (DCPS), which realizes an adequate control according to the type of access conflict. It is seen that CPS has good concurrency performance.
A method for measuring programmer debugging performance from key strokes
Authors: Takada Yoshihiro , Torii Koji
Published: July 2007

In software development management, a method is necessary that is capable of measuring programmer performance objectively, and easily. This paper presents a method to measure programmer debugging performance from key strokes. Debugging performance is defined as the efficiency of programmer activities from discovery of software failures to correction of their causes. In this method, programmer activity is first categorized into several classes by monitoring key strokes. Programmer property parameters are then extracted by applying model‐based analysis on monitored programmer activity sequences. The programmer model defined here is based on the assumption that a programmer activity sequence is a Markov process. Finally, several programmer performance values are computed from the extracted parameters. The major value is D, which is the estimated length of time required for debugging one fault. Experiments show that the method is effective enough in practical software development. One of these findings is that D shows strong correlation with a value that represents programmer productivity (the length of program development time for common specifications).
Reversible subband coding of images
Authors: Komatsu Kunitoshi , Sezaki Kaoru , Yasuda Yasuhiko
Published: July 2007

In conventional 1D filter banks used for reversible subband coding of gray‐level still images, the high‐band signals are extrapolative or interpolative prediction error signals, the former using one side of the pixels alone and the latter using two sides of the pixels but with levels four times that of the input signals.

This paper proposes a reversible subband coding method which has a high compression efficiency by reducing the entropy of the high‐band signal. This method employs 1D filter banks which use interpolative prediction error signals having levels twice that of the input signal as the high‐band signals.

This paper also describes the design of non‐separable filter banks which predict a pixel in question by using four pixels around the point. The compression efficiency of the proposed method has been compared with the conventional method by using real images. The results show the following: the entropy of the proposed method is smaller than the conventional method by 0.1 to 0.5 bits/pel; some samples processed by the proposed method show a higher compression efficiency than those in the reversible predictive coding; the separable filter banks have a higher compression efficiency than the nonseparable filter banks (both based on the proposed method); and the reduced images using the proposed separable method with a lowpass filter have many taps to suppress aliasing.
The α‐parameter of autoassociative neural networks—Analysis of equilibrium states and network dynamics
Authors: Morinaga Satoshi , Harada Daishi
Published: July 2007

The α‐parameter for autoassociative neural networks is introduced here. This parameter allows the memory capacity of such networks to be derived without use of techniques such as the replica method and signal‐to‐noise analysis. The results of the derivation explain those obtained from simulation experiments, with the derivation relying simply on asymptotic analysis. In particular, after coarse approximation a ratio of 0.13 is obtained as an estimate of network memory capacity.

Additionally, by considering the dynamical equations governing the α‐parameter, the dynamics of the network's state are analyzed during recollection. Of particular note is the result showing how the α‐parameter makes it possible to analyze networks consisting of continuous‐time neurons. Finally, the theoretical results are validated by comparing them with empirical data gathered from network simulation experiments.
A method for estimating gap junctional conductance between the retinal horizontal cells
Authors: Ishii Hiroyuki , Usui Shiro , Yamamoto Masao , Suzuki Satoshi , Kamiyama Yoshimi
Published: July 2007

Gap junction between retinal horizontal cells plays an important role in generating the center‐surround antagonistic receptive field. However, there are technical difficulties involved in measurement of the gap junctional conductance from membrane potential of horizontal cells using the ionic current model. To evaluate the proposed method, the gap junctional conductance was estimated from test data generated by the horizontal cell layer model. Conductance can be estimated with high accuracy. This method is also applied to experimental data recorded from the L‐type cell of carp retina.
Implementation of multistep fuzzy reasoning shell
Authors: Hayashi Isao , Naito Eiichi , Nomura Hiroyoshi , Wakami Noboru , Umano Motohide
Published: July 2007

Recently, there have been many trials conducted to develop fuzzy inference systems that can handle the subjective decision of the expert. A problem in the fuzzy control system is that it is an inference composed of only a single step, and cannot be applied to the decision‐making assist or diagnosis, where the inference is made in multisteps. Another point is that the rules of the inference cannot be described for each knowledge source, which has been the conventional inference shell (deterministic inference shell).

This paper proposes a fuzzy inference shell which can realize the multistep inference using the blackboard model. The proposed shell uses its own rule description language to represent the knowledge, and the description can be made by combining the new method with the conventional deterministic inference.

Using the divided knowledge blocks, the multi‐step fuzzy inference can be realized using the blackboard model. The search function also is provided that can track the inference path in the multistep inference. This paper describes the basic configuration of such a shell.
A compiling technique for dataflow machines — new algorithm for optimum translation from control flow graph into dataflow graph
Authors: Yasue Toshiaki , Muraoka Yoichi
Published: July 2007

In this paper an optimum algorithm to translate control flow graphs to dataflow graphs is proposed for dataflow execution of sequential programs. Some of the existing analysis methods restrict the specification of a program to be processed while others require a very high analysis cost. The algorithm proposed in this paper (CD translation algorithm), (1) with a very low cost, and (2) for any control structure that can be described by a control flow graph, (3) can generate dataflow programs that give an optimum dataflow execution. Furthermore, this proposed analysis algorithm is designed to handle task level control flow graphs as well as instruction level control flow graphs, which are accepted by the existing methods, so that optimum control is possible for task level dataflow execution.
VLSI implementation and evaluation of a real‐time operating system
Authors: Nakano Takumi , Utama Andy , Shiomi Akichika , Imai Masaharu , Itabashi Mitsuyoshi
Published: July 2007

This paper proposed a new approach to create a very high performance real‐time operating system (OS) using VLSI technology. In this method, a quick and steady response can be guaranteed by implementing basic operations of a real‐time OS as a peripheral chip (Silicon TRON) to be connected to general purpose microprocessors. To confirm the effectiveness of this method, most basic system calls of μITRON have been designed using an HDL. Synthesis results using a 0.8 μm CMOS technology show that the most important part of the system calls can be realized as a VLSI chip. According to the evaluation results based on an FPGA implementation, the hardware portion of these functionalities can be executed within 250 ns and task scheduling can be performed with 750 ns simultaneously, both of which are approximately 6 to 50 times faster than software implementation. Accordingly, very high performance real‐time systems can be created by the proposed method.
High‐speed threshold selection algorithm for each connected region of a gray‐level image
Authors: Yamada Kouichi , Gotoh Toshiyuki , Sekiguchi Takashi
Published: July 2007

This paper proposes a high‐speed algorithm to extract regions for gray‐scale image based on the evaluation of the features of each connected component in each gray level. In the proposed method, first, the input gray‐scale image is divided into region components having the same gray level, and the image is represented using an adjacent and a gray‐level depth which symbolizes the connective relations between the detected region elements. Then, by searching this graph, the relationship between connected regions of different gray‐levels, and the features of each region in each gray level are detected and represented by a tree. Using this representation, the optimal thresholds to extract regions which maximize evaluations of their features can be determined individually, with the amount of computation proportional only to the number of initial components.
Performance analysis of parallel garbage collection using partial marking
Authors: Tanaka Yoshio , Maeda Atsushi , Nakanishi Masakazu , Matsui Shogo
Published: July 2007

Parallel garbage collection, which executes list processing and garbage collection (GC) in parallel, has a great potential for real‐time GC. Parallel GC, however, requires special processes that degrade collection performance. Consequently, a disruption of list processing frequently occurs since the GC process cannot keep up with consumption of cells. This paper proposes Partial Marking GC (PMGC), reports on its effect and analyzes its efficiency. The goal is to make parallel GC practicable. PMGC is a variant of generational GC incorporated in parallel mark and sweep GC algorithm. The PMGC improves its collection efficiency by limiting objects of marking, reducing time of marking and shortening average GC time. The author implemented PMGC obtained various experimental results, and confirmed that PMGC significantly improved its collection efficiency and performance of real‐time processing. The results of the experiments are in good agreement with the value obtained by analysis. PMGC is an effective way of using parallel GC for practical use.
A registration method for rigid objects using repulsive force
Authors: Kita Yasuyo
Published: July 2007

A method to register the position and posture of a rigid object which moves in three‐dimensional space, without points and/or vector matching between before and after the movement is described. In the method, a group of coordinates of representative points of the object in the initial state, Pi(xṗ yṗ zi) (i = 1 to n), and those after the movement Pj(xj̇ yj̇ zj) (j = 1 to n), are used for the input data without knowing their point correspondences. Firstly, the object is translated from the initial position so that its centroid coincides with one of the goal positions. The difference in posture of the object is corrected by rotating round the centroid by the torque which attracts it to the goal posture. It is demonstrated that repulsive forces to each point of the object from all points at the goal posture, whose magnitude is the square of the distance between the points, satisfactorily produce such torque. The practical procedures for determining the position and posture using this principle are described, together with their characteristics and examples of applications to actual data.
An object‐oriented data model for multiple representation of object semantics
Authors: Ishimaru Tomoyuki , Uemura Shunsuki
Published: July 2007

This paper proposes the “poly‐aspect data model,” which is an extension of the object‐oriented data model. The purpose of the poly‐aspect data model is to represent in a natural way the multimedia data in the database. One of the features of the multimedia data is the diversified representation of the entities of the real world. In the poly‐aspect data model, the entity is interpreted as an object, and a model is provided so that multiple complete representations are given to the object. Such an object is called the poly‐aspect object. In the poly‐aspect data model, an object may have more than one instance as its representation. The class defines the format of the instance. The multiple instance of the same object are distinguished by the class names. When the attributes of multiple instances are defined by the same superclass, those attributes are interpreted to have the same semantics. The same value is shared among the instances, and the consistency is retained.

As a realization example of the poly‐aspect object, the architecture of the “Sarah” database management system, which is currently being constructed experimentally is described.
On Generalization of Attribute Grammars
Authors: Kikuchi Yutaka , Katayama Takuya
Published: July 2007

An attribute grammar is a formal system consisting of a context‐free grammar together with semantic rules, which enables us to describe not only the syntax but also the semantics of language. The limited framework of attribute grammar, however, is not conducive to expansion of the system and the many ambiguous definitions of attribute grammar make it difficult to examine its formal nature.

We propose a generalized attribute grammar based on the following two grammatical viewpoints:

the use of type‐0 grammars in place of the basic, context‐free grammars.

relaxation of the restrictions of semantic rules.

The generalization is a formal system that allows us to define computation derived from the attribute grammars. We can also use the generalization as a framework for discussing abstract characteristics of the attribute grammars.

This paper provides a formal definition and classification of general attribute grammars. We define the semantics of general attribute grammars by using semantic functions whose inputs are structures derived from the underlying grammar and whose outputs are attributed structures. We provide classifications of general attribute grammars based on the abstract properties of semantic functions.

We regard general attribute grammars as constraint satisfaction systems. Traditional attribute grammars are restricted in that underlying grammars are context free and semantic rules are solved by unidirectional local propagation.
A method of shortening metastable operation duration time by the use of feedback
Authors: Sato Yoichiro , Okamoto Takuji , Sugiyama Yuji , Kawai Masahiro , Kobayashi Toshifumi
Published: July 2007

If metastable operation (MS operation) occurs in conflict‐resolving circuits, propagation delay time of flip‐flop (FF) increases by the amount of its duration time and a malfunction may occur. This paper proposes a method of shortening duration time of MS operation that occurs when two inputs of RSFF consisting of CMOS NAND gates are switched from logic 0 to 1 approximately at the same instant. The MS operation is detected and fed back to inputs so that it is forced to terminate. A configuration of RSFF that has feedback based on this idea is first presented, and then a principle of shortening MS operation duration time follows. Then, considering implementation of RSFF by n‐well process, feedback connection and MOSFET parameters are optimized. Although hardware increases slightly by addition of feedback, the result shows the MS operation duration time increase rate against input phase difference (switching time difference of two inputs of RSFF), and the range of input phase difference for MS operation incidence are reduced by approximately 1/4 and 1/3, respectively, compared with conventional methods.
Error description on algebraic specification and its automatic addition
Authors: Hamaguchi Takeshi , Yamamoto Shinichirou , Agusa Kiyshi , Sakai Masahiko
Published: July 2007

We define an algebraic specification having a framework for error handling and give an algorithm for automatically appending error description. Generally, error description in algebraic specification is so complicated that it is difficult to comprehend and inconsistencies arise if handwritten. Therefore, it is effective to add error description automatically to algebraic specification that has no error description and without creating any inconsistency. Error constructors are introduced that represent error values as a framework for error handling. When there exists a term which is not equal to any constructor term, an equation to equalize the term and an error constructor are appended. To avoid inconsistency, i.e., normal value and error value become equal, we distinguish three kinds of variables. Some variables can be substituted for only by normal terms, some variables can be replaced only by error terms and some variables can be replaced by any term. Moreover, we show correctness of automatic error description addition; i.e., partitioning of terms in the normal part of sort is preserved before and after error description addition.
Associative image retrieval using knowledge in encyclopedia text
Authors: Keshi Ikuo , Ikeuchi Hiroshi , Kuromusha Ken'Ichi
Published: July 2007

Applying existing keyword retrieval to image retrieval causes some problems. Among them, database developers must describe photograph contents in detail and adequate retrieval is difficult. These problems have been resolved by developing an associative retrieval technology using not keywords but semantic vectors as a retrieval method with an associative function such as a human being possesses. A semantic vector dictionary of more than 100,000 words was made from encyclopedia text. This paper explains the experimental image retrieval system for 36,000 photographs with the semantic vector dictionary made from the encyclopedia text. This system associates the words input by a user with the knowledge in the encyclopedia text and outputs ranked retrieval results. The effectiveness of this associative retrieval method is confirmed by evaluating content retrieval of images by a small benchmark and making an adaptive learning function of semantic vectors in the case in which a retrieval result is not the same as a user's subjective perspective would impose.
Combinatorial optimization neural network having maximum functions in the energy function
Authors: Watanabe Yoshiaki , Yoshino Keiichi
Published: July 2007

Combinatorial optimization problems are solved here by using a neural network that includes maximum functions in the energy functions. Because the energy function is bilinear in the original Hopfield neural network, the objective optimization problem must be formulated in bilinear form. It is shown that an energy function having maximum functions can be formulated; in addition, the neural network corresponding to the energy function is able to solve optimization problems. The example used here solves the maximum satisfiability problem and the results are compared with two simple algorithms. An oscillatory unit already in use is applied to the proposed neural network and the effect is examined. Neural networks can handle solutions for a logical function having 5—20 literals and 100—100,000 nodes. The neural network with oscillatory units presented here puts out better solutions.
Line segment detection by estimating quantization error of hough transform
Authors: Tsukise Kanji , Fujiwara Ryoichi , Tsuboi Yoshiaki
Published: July 2007

In the hand‐eye system, the contour of the object is usually extracted through the Hough transform of the image in order to determine the shape and orientation of an object based on the input image. When this procedure is actually applied, however, the contour cannot be extracted with sufficient accuracy, due to the effect of noise in the image or a quantization error in the Hough transform. From such a viewpoint, this paper proposes a method to extract the line segment with high accuracy and no overlap by estimating the quantization error in the Hough transform. The effectiveness of this method is demonstrated using an actual example.
Restoration of space‐variant blurred image using a wavelet transform
Authors: Hashimoto Shoichi , Saito Hideo
Published: July 2007

This paper proposes a method to reconstruct a space‐variant blurred image by using the wavelet transform, which is an orthogonal transform producing space‐variant frequency data. A blurred image is divided into multiple resolutions by using a wavelet transform. As each resolution depends on the position of the image, this is corrected by applying a coefficient determined by a PSF parameter (the half‐maximum width) so that the position‐dependent frequency data are restored. The PSF in the blurred image is estimated to realize blind deconvolution. The method has been tested by a computer simulation and by a CCD camera using real images. The results show that the PSF in the blurred images can be estimated accurately when the images contain little noise. When the resolution of each blurred image is corrected by the estimated PSF parameter, it has been confirmed that the restoration was carried out depending on the degree of blurring.
Personality and fear of childbirth
Authors: RYDING ELSA LENA , WIRFELT EVA , WÄNGBORG ING‐BRITT , SJÖGREN BERIT , RYDING ELSA LENA , WIRFELT EVA , WÄNGBORG ING‐BRITT , SJÖGREN BERIT , EDMAN GUNNAR
Published: July 2007

Background. Socioeconomic factors and previous experiences of delivery are known to influence pregnant women's fear of childbirth. The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between stable personality traits, fear of childbirth during late pregnancy, and experience of the delivery. Methods. Self‐report questionnaires were completed twice, during gestation week 34–37, and at 1‐week postpartum. Comparisons were made between 85 women who had sought help from a fear‐of‐childbirth team, and a group (n = 177) from routine antenatal care. Correlations between fear of childbirth, personality variables and experience of childbirth were calculated. Results. The women who had sought help tended to be more anxiety‐prone, more short‐tempered, and lower in socialisation, although within the normal range. In spite of counselling, they reported more intense fear of delivery and fear of pain compared with the comparison group. Women with intense fear of childbirth, who were low in socialisation and high in psychasthenia, had a more negative experience of their current childbirth. Conclusion. Women with intense fear of childbirth differ from other pregnant women also in personality. Methods for treating fear of childbirth should be further developed in order to diminish the risk of a negative birth experience.
Inflammatory markers in endometriosis: reduced peritoneal neutrophil response in minimal endometriosis
Authors: RILEY CHRISTOPHER FINNE , MOEN METTE HAASE , VIDEM VIBEKE
Published: July 2007

Background. Inflammation is considered to play a role in the pathogenesis of endometriosis. Inflammatory activation in endometriosis was tested based on the hypothesis that pain and endometriosis stage are related to the degree of local and systemic inflammation. Methods. Eighteen patients with endometriosis and 14 controls without endometriosis were studied. Cancer antigen 125 and C‐reactive protein were analyzed in blood, and in aspirated peritoneal fluid, lactoferrin, myeloperoxidase (neutrophil granulocyte activation marker), sC5b‐9 (terminal complement complex), soluble intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (marker for extent of endometriotic tissue), neopterin, and tumor necrosis factor alpha (monocyte/macrophage activation) were evaluated and related to pain, endometriosis stage, and clinical data. Results. None of the measured markers were different between control and endometriosis patients, or in women with or without menstrual pain, dyspareunia, or other types of pelvic pain. Lactoferrin and myeloperoxidase concentrations were significantly lower in patients with endometriosis stage I compared to control patients and endometriosis patients with stage III/IV disease. As expected, cancer antigen 125 concentrations were increased in endometriosis patients of stage III/IV. Conclusions. Neutrophil granulocytes in endometriosis patients may have a lowered ability to respond to weak activation signals, while in more extensive endometriosis stronger neutrophil activation may be related to a proinflammatory effect of endometriotic tissue.