Thermoelectric power of antiferromagnetic RIn3 compounds

The thermoelectric power (TEP) has been measured from 2.2 to 300 K for antiferromagnetic compounds, CeIn₃, NdIn₃, SmIn₃, GdIn₃ and (Ce_1−xLa_x)In₃ with x = 0.1 and 0.2. The effects of the antiferromagnetic order were observed on the TEP of these compounds below T_N. The observations are explained by the antiferromagnetic band gap formation theory proposed by Abel'skii.     

Optical implementation of the stream cipher based on the irreversible cellular automata algorithm

A hybrid optical scheme for efficient hardware implementation of the one-dimensional, three-neighborhood binary cellular automata rule a(i)(?) =a(i-1)XOR(a(i)OR a(i+1)) -based stream cipher is proposed. The system makes full use of the parallel, space-invariant, cascadable, and modular structure of the algorithm and is simple, robust, and compact. The number of cellular automata arrays can be as large as the number of pixels on the spatial light modulator, which results in an increase in speed (number of bits operated in parallel) and security (key length). The system can be made fully optical with the use of an optically addressable spatial light modulator for the input plane and for the nonlinear threshold element.     

Determination of acrolein in serum by high‐performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection after pre‐column fluorogenic derivatization using 1,2‐diamino‐4,5‐dimethoxybenzene

Acrolein is a major unsaturated aldehyde that is generated during the lipid peroxidation process. The measurement of acrolein in biological samples should be useful to estimate the degree of lipid peroxidation and to evaluate the effect of hazardous properties of acrolein on human health. In this study, a highly sensitive and selective high‐performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection method was developed for the determination of acrolein in human serum. The proposed method involves the pre‐column fluorogenic derivatization of acrolein with 1,2‐diamino‐4,5‐dimethoxybenzene (DDB) as a reagent. The fluorescent derivative of acrolein could be detected clearly without any interfering reagent blank peaks because DDB does not have intrinsic fluorescence itself, and the detection limit was 10 nM (signal‐to‐noise ratio = 3). The proposed method could selectively detect acrolein in human serum with a simple protein precipitation treatment. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

High-fidelity image reproduction using angular distribution of reflected spectral intensity

A method to reproduce images of an object under various observation conditions is presented. In this method, a series of multispectral images is captured by rotating the object under a point light source of which spectral power distribution and the position are known. The captured images are decomposed into diffuse and specular reflection component images based on the dichromatic reflection and the Lambertian models. Next, the incident angle of the illumination light and the angle between viewing direction and regular reflection are calculated based on observation geometry. Finally, the image under observation geometry is synthesized using the light-ray rearrangement technique. The experiments are carried out using two-dimensional objects, leather and fabric. Most of the synthesized images are shown to be the same as the images actually captured under the assumed illumination geometry, even if the object has complex reflection like fabric for which it is difficult to apply the reflection model used in computer graphics.     

Fidelity evaluation of metallic luster in six-band high-dynamic-range imaging

This paper presents subjective evaluation results for images reproducing metallic luster. The images were produced by a six-band high-dynamic-range imaging technique, which provides high color fidelity and the capability of various tone mapping operations. The preferences for images produced by four kinds of tone mapping operations were evaluated by means of a paired comparison method under the conditions that observers could or could not refer to real scenes. The evaluation results indicated that preferences for images depend on tone mapping operations, especially for objects that have the luster changing over a large area with moderately high intensity. In addition, when referring to a real scene, the spatially varying tone compression, which reproduces the color and complex characteristics of metallic luster, was significantly preferable to the tone mappings by other approaches. Without a real scene, the preference was also strong for images produced by simply saturating pixel values at highlights.     

Synthesis and lectin-binding activity of luminescent silica particles peripherally functionalized with lactose

A novel O-protected lactose (Galβ1→4Glcβ1-) derivative bearing trimethoxysilyl group at the aglycon was developed as a silane coupling agent. Reaction of the coupling agent with tris(2,2′-bipyridine)ruthenium (II) dichloride (Rubpy) doped silica particle gave a Rubpy-doped silica particle peripherally functionalized with O-protected lactose derivative. De-O-protection of the particle with aqueous ammonia provided lactose-coating Rubpy-doped silica particles, combining luminophor encapsulated in silica matrix and carbohydrate having lectin-recognition ability. Specific adhesion of fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled peanut agglutinin (FITC-PNA) to the lactose-coating Rubpy-doped silica particles was confirmed by fluorescence microscopic analysis.     

Investigation of the Si doping effect in β-Ga2O3 films by co-sputtering of gallium oxide and Si

A transparent electrode of Si doped β-Ga₂O₃ films for solar cells, flat panel displays and other devices, which consists of chemically abundant and ecological friendly elements of gallium and oxygen, was grown on silicon substrates by RF magnetron sputtering using sintered Ga₂O₃ and Si target. The Si composition in the β-Ga₂O₃ film is determined by electron dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy peak ratio of oxygen over gallium decreases with increasing Si content. It is concluded that Si substitutes for the Ga sites in the β-Ga₂O₃ film.     

Color Correction of Pathological Images Based on Dye Amount Quantification

Pathological images are color images of stained tissue slides, the color of which varies depending on staining conditions. For reliable diagnosis, the color variation must be corrected in these images. This paper proposes a color correction method for hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) stained pathological images in which the amounts of H&E dyes are estimated based on multispectral imaging technique and Beer Lambert law, and the color image is generated corresponding to the adjusted amount of dyes. This enables us to correct an image to an arbitrary or specified optimal staining-condition image. Through experiments using H&E stained human liver slide images, the effectiveness of the proposed method was confirmed.