Bitline GND sensing technique for low-voltage operation FeRAM

In this sensing technique, pMOS charge transfer maintains the bitline level near the GND when the plate line goes high. It gives 0.5-V higher readout voltages across the cell capacitors and enables a 0.4-V higher differential amplitude in a 512-cell per bitline structure compared with the conventional high-impedance bitline sensing technique. Using the shifted bias plate line layout, only eight cells and eight sense amplifiers per cell mat are activated, and simulations show 8.06 mW at 3 V and 5 MHz, which is about the same power consumption as the conventional device     

Probabilistic fault grading based on activation checking and observability analysis

A simplified probabilistic fault grading method is described. The concept of propagation probability is introduced in place of the sensitization probability of STAFAN, and the empirical parameters of STAFAN are eliminated. The division of input vectors into subsets is monitored by the activation or toggle rate. The accuracy of the method is examined for fault coverage estimation and for predicting the undetected faults.     

Neutron crystallographic and molecular dynamics studies of the structure of ammonia-cellulose I: rearrangement of hydrogen bonding during the treatment of cellulose with ammonia

The hydrogen bond arrangement in a complex of cellulose with ammonia has been studied using neutron crystallography in combination with molecular dynamics simulations. The O6 atom of the hydroxymethyl group is donor in a highly occupied hydrogen bond to an ammonia molecule. This rotating ammonia molecule is donor in partially occupied and transient hydrogen bonds to the O2, O3 and O6 atoms of the hydroxyl groups of other chains. The hydrogen atom bound to the O3 atom is disordered but it is almost always involved in some type of hydrogen bonding. It is donated in a hydrogen bond most of the time to the O5 atom on the same chain. However, it also rotates away from this O5 atom to be donated to an ammonia molecule part of the time. On the other hand the hydrogen atom bound to the O2 atom is free from hydrogen bonding most of the time. It is donated in a hydrogen bond to the O6 atom on a neighboring chain only with a relatively small probability. These results provide new insights into how hydrogen bonds are rearranged during the conversion of cellulose I to cellulose III_I by ammonia treatment.     

Development of quality assessment method for optically active food flavor chemicals

A quality assessment method for commercially available, optically active flavor compounds, namely, menthol, menthyl acetate, borneol, perillaldehyde, and 1,8-cineol, was developed. A gas chromatograph equipped with a flame ionization detector and a DB-5ms capillary column was used for the chemical purity test. A GC/MS with a beta-DEX cyclodextrin column was used for the optical purity test, by which the enantiomeric separation of each flavor compound was achieved. Enantiomeric excess was calculated as an expression of optical purity. Of the 25 standard samples subjected to the chemical purity test, six were found to have lower purity than the data provided by the manufacturers. When the same samples were subjected to the optical purity test, 11 were found to have lower purity than that indicated on the reagent labels. These results suggest that there is a need to conduct an optical purity test, in addition to a chemical purity test, for the quality assessment of flavor standards.     

Determination of proline enantiomers in honey and royal jelly by LC-UV

The chiral separation and quantification of D-proline and L-proline in honey and royal jelly were examined by LC with UV detection. Most of the endogenous compounds existing in honey, such as sugars, were removed by using SPE cartridges containing C18 and strong cation-exchange sorbent. Other components, such as primary amino acids, were also removed by two-step derivatization with o-phthalaldehyde (OPA) and 9-fluorenylmethyl chloroformate (FMOC-CI). The components that were derivatized with OPA were separated from proline with a C18 cartridge. Proline was then converted into an FMOC derivative that could be subsequently measured by LC-UV. Sufficient chiral separation of D-proline and L-proline was achieved with an LC chiral column made of a beta-cyclodextrin phase in the polar organic-phase mode. The average recoveries of D-proline and L-proline from honey and royal jelly were in the range of 81.3-98.6% (RSD of < 1.8%). When this method was applied to commercial honey and royal jelly samples, L-proline was detected at concentrations of 369-1930 microg/g, whereas D-proline was not detected.     

10 Gbit/s pseudorandom dark soliton data transmission over 1200 km

A 10 Gbit/s pseudorandom (PR) dark soliton data signal has been successfully transmitted over 1200 km for the first time. The dark soliton source was a 1.53 μm DFB LD and was modulated with a push-pull Mach-Zehnder LiNbO₃ intensity modulator. A T-flip-flop circuit was used to generate the PR dark soliton. A one-bit-shifting scheme with a Mach-Zehnder interferometer was used to convert the dark soliton train into a conventional NRZ signal     

An efficient 0.04-nm apodized fiber Bragg grating and its application to narrow-band spectral filtering

A narrow-band apodized fiber Bragg grating was fabricated with a phase mask method that incorporated a fluorescence monitoring technique. The grating length was 100 mm and the 3-dB reduced bandwidth was as small as 0.04 nm. The 20-dB reduced bandwidth was 0.1 nm at a center wavelength of 1554 mm. A single longitudinal oscillation mode of a 10-GHz pulse train from a mode-locked fiber laser was successfully extracted using the grating.     

Infinite-distance soliton transmission with soliton controls in time and frequency domains

It is shown by computer runs and simple analysis that one hundred million km soliton transmission is possible by means of soliton transmission controls in the time and frequency domains. This means that limitless transmission is possible. The key to success is to reduce noise by the synchronous modulation technique which can also reduce timing jitter and nonlinear interaction forces. The accumulated noise converges to a fixed low level even after limitless transmission.<>     

10 Gbit/s, 1200 km error-free soliton data transmission using erbium-doped fibre amplifiers

Soliton data signals at 10 Gbit/s have been successfully transmitted for the first time through a 1200 km dispersion-shifted fibre by using 24 erbium-doped fibre amplifiers. A bit error rate below 10/sup -13/ was obtained with 2/sup 20/-1 pseudorandom patterns.<>     

Studies on erosion of silicone rubber exposed to partial arc discharges

The effect of electrolyte conductivity on the partial arc discharge development between two electrolyte electrodes on a silicone rubber sheet surface was investigated. Tests were executed by placing the salt-waterlogged glass-filter paper on a silicone rubber sheet to simulate a polluted electrolyte layer, and partial arc discharges with a constant current value of 10 mA were observed. It was found that the formation of an arc channel and a temperature distribution on the sample surface varied with the electrolyte conductivity. In addition, the relation between the electrolyte conductivity and the weight loss due to the heat erosion of specimens was also investigated by a 3D morphological observation and a simulated calculation. The partial arc discharge did significantly not influence on the sample surface erosion under serious polluted conditions. In contrast, the severest erosion appeared under the light pollution with comparatively lower conductivity of the electrolyte electrodes.