Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2012-11-06"

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Human Serum Albumin Stabilized Gold Nanoclusters as Selective Luminescent Probes for Staphylococcus aureus and Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus
(2012-11-06)
Chan, Po-Han
;
Chen, Yu-Chie
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應用化學系
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Department of Applied Chemistry
In this work, human serum albumin (HSA) stabilized gold nanoclusters (HSA-AuNCs) with reddish photoluminescence were used as sensing probes for pathogenic bacteria including Enterobacter cloacae, Escherichia coli J96, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, pandrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (PDRAB), Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MASA), Streptococcus pyogenes, and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecalis (VRE). We discovered that HSA-AuNCs have unique affinity with S. aureus and MASA In addition to demonstrating the selective sensing ability of HSA-AuNCs toward S. aureus and MRSA, the binding peptide motifs identified from HSA-AuNCs were characterized by mass spectrometry. The identified binding peptides were further used as the reducing and stabilizing agents for generation of peptide-bound AuNCs (Pep-AuNCs). The generated Pep-AuNCs were demonstrated to have the binding affinities with S. aureus and MRSA.
Method for analog placement and global routing considering wiring symmetry
(2012-11-06)
Jiang Iris Hui-Ru
;
Yang Yu-Ming
A method for analog placement and global routing considering wiring symmetry performs a layout for a circuit which is described by a netlist having a set of devices and wires. First, the method inputs the netlist, and each device thereof has a design constraint and a corresponding priority. Based on the priorities, it performs a sorting on the devices to establish a constraint library. Then, based on the design constraint and corresponding priority of each device, the method establishes a hierarchical constraint tree. According to the hierarchical constraint tree, the method performs placement of each device, wherein possible shape of each device is represented by a shape curve. For each placement of the device, the method calculates a corresponding cost function. Then, it selects an optimum placement of the device according to the cost functions. The method establishes an RSMT for each wire and then performs an analog routing.
System and method of transmit diversity for wireless communications
(2012-11-06)
Ma Chun-Ying
;
Huang Chia-Chi
A system and method of transmit diversity for wireless communication. The system includes a transmitting terminal having a plurality of transmission antennas and a receiving terminal having a plurality of receiving antennas. The method includes analyzing channel state information obtained by the transmitting terminal; selecting an antenna to be one in use from the receiving antennas; matching the selected antenna in use with the wireless signals that are to be transmitted; transmitting wireless signals that are matched to the receiving terminal for being calculated and determining the pre-selected antenna in use, thereby significantly reducing complexities of the receiving terminal.
Functional Analyses of Endometriosis-Related Polymorphisms in the Estrogen Synthesis and Metabolism-Related Genes
(2012-11-06)
Wang, Hsin-Shih
;
Wu, Hsien-Ming
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Cheng, Bi-Hwa
;
Yen, Chih-Feng
;
Chang, Pi-Yueh
Endometriosis is determined by genetic factors, and the prevalence of genetic polymorphisms varies greatly depending on the ethnic group studied. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of 9 genes involved in estrogen biosynthesis and metabolism and the risks of endometriosis. Three hundred patients with endometriosis and 337 non-endometriotic controls were recruited. Thirty four non-synonymous SNPs, which change amino acid residues, were analyzed using matrix-assisted laser desorption-ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). The functions of SNP-resulted amino acid changes were analyzed using multiple web-accessible databases and phosphorylation predicting algorithms. Among the 34 NCBI-listed SNPs, 22 did not exhibit polymorphism in this study of more than 600 Taiwanese Chinese women. However, homozygous and heterozygous mutants of 4 SNPs - rs6165 (genotype GG+GA, 307(Ala/Ala)+307(Ala/Thr)) of FSHR, rs 6166 (genotype GG+GA, 680(Ser/Asn)+680(Ser/Ser)) of FSHR, rs2066479 (genotype AA+AG, 289(Ser/Ser)+289(Ser/Gly)) of HSD17B3 and rs700519 (genotype TT+TC, 264(Cys/Cys)+264(Cys/Arg)) of CYP19, alone or in combination, were significantly associated with decreased risks of endometriosis. Bioinformatics results identified 307(Thr) of FSHR to be a site for O-linked glycosylation, 680(Ser) of FSHR a phosphorylated site by protein kinase B, and 289(Ser) of HSD17B3 a phosphorylated site by protein kinase B or ribosomal protein S6 kinase 1. Results of this study suggest that non-synonymous polymorphisms of FSHR, HSD17B3 and CYP19 genes may modulate the risk of endometriosis in Taiwanese Chinese women. Identification of the endometrosis-preferential non-synonymous SNPs and the conformational changes in those proteins may pave the way for the development of more disease-specific drugs.
漸行漸遠的說書人：黃春明的文學世界與台灣社會變遷
(2012-11-07)
徐秀慧
;
開放教育推動中心
;
Open Education Office
課程首頁本課程是由交通大學新文藝復興閱讀計畫提供。 96 年 8 月當各大學紛紛摩拳擦掌準備迎接新生的同時，交通大學校長吳重雨則因為一則來自於七月份泰晤士報，有關於英國首相布朗公布其夏日讀書清單的新聞中，看到了他對知識的尊重。在這同時，吳重雨校長也思考著，要如何為學生準備追求知識的環境和激發他們對知識的尊重與喜愛。台積電張忠謀董事長曾陳述他 18 歲進入哈佛那一年，博覽文史哲理工經典群籍，至此奠定了他求知的基礎，並借海明威名言，將其改為「哈佛這一年為人生可帶走的盛宴。」吳重雨校長以張董事長的學習為借鏡，認為學生固然能藉由自我閱讀的方式學習到豐沛的知識，但透過名人、大師親臨現場地介紹經典書籍，更能加深學子們對於書籍的認識與興趣，這也是「新文藝復興閱讀計劃」 ( 以下簡稱 : 「經典名著選讀」 ) 活動展開籌劃的緣由。於是，吳重雨校長便積極敦請「交大通識教育委員會」，接手籌備本計劃的相關活動，而該中心也成為實際施行本計畫的策動、開課以及認證單位。至此，期許交大學子藉由閱讀、聽講來提昇人文素養、開拓視野的「新文藝復興閱讀計劃」，就此展開。
Ultra-low voltage implicit multiplexed differential flip-flop with enhanced noise immunity
(2012-11-08)
Sung, W. -H.
;
Lee, M. -C.
;
Chung, C. -C.
;
Lee, C. -Y.
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電子工程學系及電子研究所
An ultra-low voltage 22T implicit multiplexed differential (IMD) flip-flop (FF) is proposed. An implicit multiplexer is designed to simplify the differential FF complexity, while its control data path is able to enhance the FF noise immunity as well. So, the fully static IMD-FF with modified differential topology provides a sufficient noise margin under voltage scaling. On the other hand, the IMD-FF operation avoids considerable DC current dissipation to save active power and suppresses the idle leakage by stacked transistors. The post-layout simulation in 90 nm CMOS process with 400 mV supply voltage shows that the IMD-FF achieves 56% active power and 42.2% leakage power reduction. The tolerable noise energy is enhanced by 18.9% on average. Finally, this work provides 93% function yield rate under the effect of process-voltage-temperature variations and 40 pJ input noise energy.
Regional surface mass anomalies from GRACE KBR measurements: Application of L-curve regularization and a priori hydrological knowledge
(2012-11-08)
Tangdamrongsub, Natthachet
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Hwang, Cheinway
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Shum, C. K.
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Wang, Lei
;
土木工程學系
We present a method of directly estimating surface mass anomalies at regional scales using satellite-to-satellite K-band Ranging (KBR) data from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) twin-satellite mission. Geopotential differences based primarily on KBR measurement are derived using a modified energy integral method with an improved method to calibrate accelerometer measurements. Surface mass anomalies are computed based on a downward continuation process, with optimal regularization parameters estimated using the L-curve criterion method. We derive the covariance functions in both space-and space-time domains and use them as light constraints in the regional gravity estimation process in the Amazon basin study region. The space-time covariance function has a time-correlation distance of 1.27 months, which is evident that observations between neighboring months are correlated and the correlation should be taken into account. However, most of the current GRACE solutions did not consider such temporal correlations. In our study, the artifact in the regional gravity solution is mitigated by using the covariance functions. The averaged commission errors are estimated to be only 6.86% and 5.85% for the solutions based on the space-covariance function (SCF) and the space-time covariance function (STCF), respectively. Our regional gravity solution in the Amazon basin study region, which requires no further post-processing, shows enhanced regional gravity signatures, reduced gravity artifacts, and the gravity solution agrees with NASA/GSFC's GRACE MASCON solution to about 1 cm RMS in terms of water thickness change over the Amazon basin study region. The regional gravity solution also retains the maximum signal energy while suppressing the short wavelength errors.
METHOD FOR DYNAMICALLY SETTING ENVIRONMENTAL BOUNDARY IN IMAGE AND METHOD FOR INSTANTLY DETERMINING HUMAN ACTIVITY
(2012-11-08)
Song Kai-Tai
;
Chen Wei-Jyun
The present invention provides a method for dynamically setting an environmental boundary in an image and a method for instantly determining human activity according to the method for dynamically setting the environmental boundary. The method for instantly determining human activity includes the steps of retrieving at least an initial environmental image with a predetermined angle, and calculating a boundary setting equation of an object and an environmental boundary in the initial environmental image; retrieving a dynamic environmental image having the object by using a movable platform, and figuring out a new environmental boundary; determining a human image in the dynamic environmental image, recording retention time of the human image, and determining a human posture; and determining human location according to the environmental boundary in the dynamic environmental image and the human image, and instantly determining the human activity.
Mechanism and Kinetics for Ammonium Dinitramide (ADN) Sublimation: A First-Principles Study
(2012-11-08)
Zhu, R. S.
;
Chen, Hui-Lung
;
Lin, M. C.
;
應用化學系分子科學碩博班
;
Institute of Molecular science
The mechanism for sublimation of NH4N(NO2)(2) (ADN) has been investigated quantum-mechanically with generalized gradient approximation plane-wave density functional theory calculations; the solid surface is represented by a slab model and the periodic boundary conditions are applied. The calculated lattice constants for the bulk ADN, which were found to consist of NH4+[ON(O)NNO2](-) units, instead of NH4+[N(NO2)(2)](-), agree quite well with experimental values. Results show that three steps are involved in the sublimation/decomposition of ADN. The first step is the relaxation of the surface layer with 1.6 kcal/mol energy per NH4ON(O)NNO2 unit; the second step is the sublimation of the surface layer to form a molecular [NH3]-[HON(O)NNO2] complex with a 29.4 kcal/mol sublimation energy, consistent with the experimental observation of Korobeinichev et al.(10) The last step is the dissociation of the [H3N]-[HON(O)NNO2] complex to give NH3 and HON(O)NNO2 with the dissociation energy of 13.9 kcal/mol. Direct formation of NO2 (g) from solid ADN costs a much higher energy, 58.3 kcal/mol. Our calculated total sublimation enthalpy for ADN(s) -> NH3(g) + HON(O)NNO2) (g), 44.9 kcal/mol via three steps, is in good agreement with the value, 42.1 kcal/mol predicted for the one-step sublimation process in this work and the value 44.0 kcal/mol computed by Politzer et al.(11) using experimental thermochemical data. The sublimation rate constant for the rate-controlling step 2 can be represented as k(sub) = 2.18 x 10(12) exp (-30.5 kcal/mol/RT) s(-1), which agrees well with available experimental data within the temperature range studied. The high pressure limit decomposition rate constant for the molecular complex H3N center dot center dot center dot HON(O)NNO2 can be expressed by k(dec) = 3.18 x 10(13) exp (-15.09 kcal/mol/RT) s(-1). In addition, water molecules were found to increase the sublimation enthalpy of ADN, contrary to that found in the ammonium perchlorate system, in which water molecules were shown to reduce pronouncedly the enthalpy of sublimation.
LMI-based robust sliding control for mismatched uncertain nonlinear systems using fuzzy models
(2012-11-10)
Liu, Sung-Chieh
;
Lin, Sheng-Fuu
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電機工程學系
;
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
We propose a robust sliding control design method for uncertain TakagiSugeno fuzzy models. The uncertain fuzzy systems under consideration have mismatched parameter uncertainties in the state matrix and external disturbances. We make the first attempt to relax the restrictive assumption that each nominal local system model shares the same input channel, which is required in the traditional VSS-based fuzzy control design methods. We derive the existence conditions of linear sliding surfaces guaranteeing the asymptotic stability in terms of constrained LMIs. We present an LMI characterization of such sliding surfaces. Also, an LMI-based algorithm is given to design the switching feedback control term so that a stable sliding motion is induced in finite time. Finally, we give two simulation results to show the effectiveness of the proposed method. Copyright (c) 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
全數位快速鎖定自我校正多相位延遲鎖定迴路
(2012-11-11)
莊立溥
;
張銘宏
;
黃威
本發明揭露了一種全數位自我校正多相位延遲鎖定迴路，其包含四個主要的區塊，分別為：一組數位式控制延遲線，一相位偵測器，一鎖定單元，及一自我校正單元。數位式控制延遲線係由K個相同之延遲級(delay stage)串連所形成，而所有的延遲級皆係由兩組控制訊號C[M：0]與Bi[N：0]所控制。C[M：0]係由採用非平衡式二元搜尋演算法之鎖定單元所產生。當延遲鎖定迴路鎖定時，自我校正單元將產生Bi[N：0]訊號以調整各級輸出訊號之間的相位差。
Reply to Comment on "Chemical-Composition-Dependent Metastability of Tetragonal ZrO2 in Sol-Gel-Derived Films under Different Calcination Conditions"
(2012-11-13)
Chang, Sue-min
;
Doong, Ruey-an
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環境工程研究所
;
Institute of Environmental Engineering
Adjustable implant electrode system and implant electrode assembly thereof
(2012-11-13)
Choi Charles Tak-Ming
;
Hsu Chien-Hua
An adjustable implant electrode system comprises an adjustable implant electrode assembly and an adjustment device for adjusting the adjustable implant electrode assembly to a desired position. The adjustable implant electrode assembly comprises an implant, a plurality of electrodes, and a plurality of magnetic components. The electrodes are disposed in the implant for providing stimulating currents according to a control signal. The magnetic components are combined with the electrodes in one-to-one correspondence. The adjustment device comprises a control unit, an excitation unit, and one or more magnetic units. The control unit is used to select one or more magnetic components to be moved from the magnetic components, and the excitation unit is used to excite the selected one or more magnetic components for the same to generate a magnetic pole, and the magnetic unit is adapted to generate a magnetic field to drive the magnetic pole and accordingly move the implant.
Piezoelectric panel speaker and optimal method of designing the same
(2012-11-13)
Bai Mingsian R.
;
Tsai Yao-Kun
A piezoelectric panel speaker and an optimal method of designing the same is disclosed. In the structure of the speaker, at least one piezoelectric plate attached at a surrounding frame supports a diaphragm inside the surrounding frame. A spacer is inserted between the piezoelectric plate and the diaphragm. The structure of the piezoelectric plates fixed at the surrounding frame improves the speaker performance within the low frequency range. The finite element method is employed to build a mathematical model to simulate the sound pressure loading of the piezoelectric panel speaker. Also, the simulated annealing method is employed to approach the optimal design parameters of the speaker structure.
Dynamic overlay multicast for live multimedia streaming in urban VANETs
(2012-11-14)
Hsieh, Yi-Ling
;
Wang, Kuochen
;
應用化學系
;
資訊工程學系
;
Department of Applied Chemistry
Infotainment service has been a foreseeing trend in VANETs (Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks), and multimedia streaming has a high potential in VANET infotainment service. This paper considers the scenario of live multimedia streaming multicast to vehicles of the same group using a dynamic application layer overlay. Due to the willingness for cooperation of non-group nodes, application layer overlay multicast is more feasible than other kinds of multicast such as network-coding-based multicast and network-layer multicast. To adapt to high mobility and full of obstacles in urban VANETs, we propose an effective dynamic overlay multicast scheme for multimedia streaming, called OMV (Overlay Multicast in VANETs). The proposed OMV enhances an overlay's stability with two strategies: (1) QoS-satisfied dynamic overlay and (2) mesh-structure overlay. The QoS-satisfied strategy to adjust the overlay selects potential new parents based on their streams' packet loss rates and end-to-end delays. The mesh-structure strategy allow; a child to have multiple parents. We evaluate the proposed OMV in urban VANETs with obstacles using two real video clips to demonstrate the feasibility of the OMV for real videos. Evaluation results show that comparing the proposed OMV to Qadri et al.'s work, which is a static mesh overlay and is the best method available in VANETs, the packet loss rate is reduced by 27.1% and the end-to-end delay is decreased by 11.7%, with a small control overhead of 2.1%, on average. Comparing the proposed OMV for tree overlays to ALMA, which is for dynamic tree multicast overlays and is also the best method available in MANETs, the packet loss rate is reduced by 7.1% and the end-to-end delay is decreased by 13.1%. In addition, to address the problem of obstacle-prone urban VANETs, we also derive feasible stream rates and overlay sizes for city maps with different road section sizes. To the best of our knowledge, how to organize and dynamically adjust an application layer multicast overlay for live multimedia streaming have not been studied in existing VANET literatures. In summary, to deal with highly dynamic topologies in urban VANETs. we propose a QoS-satisfied strategy for group nodes to switch to new parents that can offer better QoS. The proposed OMV is feasible for live multimedia streaming applications, such as emergency live video transmission and live video tour guides for passengers in different vehicles that belong to the same multicast group. (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Decision tree-based learning to predict patient controlled analgesia consumption and readjustment
(2012-11-14)
Hu, Yuh-Jyh
;
Ku, Tien-Hsiung
;
Jan, Rong-Hong
;
Wang, Kuochen
;
Tseng, Yu-Chee
Background: Appropriate postoperative pain management contributes to earlier mobilization, shorter hospitalization, and reduced cost. The under treatment of pain may impede short-term recovery and have a detrimental long-term effect on health. This study focuses on Patient Controlled Analgesia (PCA), which is a delivery system for pain medication. This study proposes and demonstrates how to use machine learning and data mining techniques to predict analgesic requirements and PCA readjustment. Methods: The sample in this study included 1099 patients. Every patient was described by 280 attributes, including the class attribute. In addition to commonly studied demographic and physiological factors, this study emphasizes attributes related to PCA. We used decision tree-based learning algorithms to predict analgesic consumption and PCA control readjustment based on the first few hours of PCA medications. We also developed a nearest neighbor-based data cleaning method to alleviate the class-imbalance problem in PCA setting readjustment prediction. Results: The prediction accuracies of total analgesic consumption (continuous dose and PCA dose) and PCA analgesic requirement (PCA dose only) by an ensemble of decision trees were 80.9% and 73.1%, respectively. Decision tree-based learning outperformed Artificial Neural Network, Support Vector Machine, Random Forest, Rotation Forest, and Naive Bayesian classifiers in analgesic consumption prediction. The proposed data cleaning method improved the performance of every learning method in this study of PCA setting readjustment prediction. Comparative analysis identified the informative attributes from the data mining models and compared them with the correlates of analgesic requirement reported in previous works. Conclusion: This study presents a real-world application of data mining to anesthesiology. Unlike previous research, this study considers a wider variety of predictive factors, including PCA demands over time. We analyzed PCA patient data and conducted several experiments to evaluate the potential of applying machine-learning algorithms to assist anesthesiologists in PCA administration. Results demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed ensemble approach to postoperative pain management.
CHINESE SPEECH RECOGNITION SYSTEM AND METHOD
(2012-11-15)
YANG Jyh-Her
;
Chiang Chen-Yu
;
Liu Ming-Chieh
;
Wang Yih-Ru
;
Liao Yuan-Fu
A Chinese speech recognition system and method is disclosed. Firstly, a speech signal is received and recognized to output a word lattice. Next, the word lattice is received, and word arcs of the word lattice are rescored and reranked with a prosodic break model, a prosodic state model, a syllable prosodic-acoustic model, a syllable-juncture prosodic-acoustic model and a factored language model, so as to output a language tag, a prosodic tag and a phonetic segmentation tag, which correspond to the speech signal. The present invention performs rescoring in a two-stage way to promote the recognition rate of basic speech information and labels the language tag, prosodic tag and phonetic segmentation tag to provide the prosodic structure and language information for the rear-stage voice conversion and voice synthesis.
Effect of processing kinetics on the structure of ferromagnetic-ferroelectric-ferromagnetic interfaces
(2012-11-15)
Krishnan, P. S. Sankara Rama
;
Ramasse, Q. M.
;
Liang, Wen-I
;
Chu, Ying-Hao
;
Nagarajan, V.
Trilayer heterostructures consisting of a ferroelectric bismuth ferrite (BFO) film sandwiched between ferromagnetic lanthanum strontium manganese oxide (LSMO) films were fabricated using pulsed laser deposition. Both BFO thicknesses (20 nm, 5 nm) and cooling rates were varied to investigate the role of processing parameters on the chemistry of the interfaces. The interfaces were investigated using a dedicated aberration corrected scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) operated at 100 kV via STEM-high angle annular dark field (STEM-HAADF) and STEM-electron energy loss spectroscopy (STEM-EELS) modes. Combined analysis through STEM-HAADF and STEM-EELS revealed the formation of lattice distortion in certain regions of the BFO layer for the similar to 5 nm film. Piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) studies of the similar to 5 nm BFO sample revealed weak ferroelectric domain switching. Stacking fault defects with mixed valence manganese (Mn-B site cation) were formed in the top LSMO layer when the heterostructure was cooled at a slower rate irrespective of BFO thickness, thereby demonstrating the effect of processing kinetics on the physical integrity of the heterostructure. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4765045]
PHOTO-CROSSLINKABLE LIQUID CRYSTAL MONOMERS WITH OPTICAL ACTIVITY
(2012-11-15)
CHEN Yu-hsien
;
LIU Sheng-fa
;
LI Huai-an
;
FUH Sin-min
;
LIN Hong-cheu
The present invention relates to photo-crosslinkable liquid crystal monomers with optical activity. The liquid crystal monomers contains one chiral center with an acrylate group or terminal diacrylate groups, and terminal dibenzene rings are introduced in order to extend its hard segment for the purpose of getting a wider liquid crystalline phase. By introducing the liquid crystal monomers, the room temperature nematic liquid crystal or the cholesteric liquid crystal may have a better mutual solubility and a wider, steadier structure of liquid crystal. The liquid crystal monomers have the following formula structure:
Phase evolution of magnetite nanocrystals on oxide supports via template-free bismuth ferrite precursor approach
(2012-11-15)
Cheung, Jeffrey
;
Bogle, Kashinath
;
Cheng, Xuan
;
Sullaphen, Jivika
;
Kuo, Chang-Yang
This report investigates the phase evolution pathway of magnetite nanocrystal synthesis on oxide-supported substrates. A template-free phase separation approach, which exploits the thermodynamic instability of ternary perovskite BiFeO3 and inherent volatility of bismuth oxide in low oxygen pressure and high temperature is presented. The formation of an intermediate hematite nanocrystal phase is found as a key step that controls the eventual size and morphology of the magnetite nanocrystals. X-ray absorption spectra measurements and X-ray magnetic circular dichroism confirm that the spectral fingerprints of the magnetite nanocrystals match with that of bulk crystals. Magnetic measurements show that magnetic anisotropy is directly attributed to the nanocrystal morphology. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4766748]