Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2015-02-01"

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Evaluating and comparing the university performance in knowledge utilization for patented inventions
(2015-02-01)
Hung, Wen-Chi
;
Ding, Cherng G.
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Wang, Hung-Jui
;
Lee, Meng-Che
;
Lin, Chieh-Peng
Although universities have played an important role in knowledge creation, it is also of concern to see how universities perform in knowledge utilization. In the present article, an effective approach is proposed to evaluate and compare university performance in knowledge utilization for patented inventions. Growth trajectories of the cumulative patent citations to scientific publications produced by individual universities are analyzed by using latent growth modeling. Moreover, we examine how the utilization of scientific knowledge created in 1995 and 2005 is affected by research impact and university-industry collaboration among the universities in Europe, North America, and East Asia. The results indicate that not all top 300 research universities in the world perform well in knowledge utilization for patented inventions. Some policy implications are discussed.
AMPFLUID: Aggregation Magnified Post-Assay Fluorescence for Ultrasensitive Immunodetection on Digital Microfluidics
(2015-02-01)
Huang, Cheng-Yeh
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Shih, Po-Huai
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Tsai, Po-Yen
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Lee, I-Chin
;
Hsu, Hsin-Yun
Several strategies are currently employed to enhance the detection limit of bead-based assays, but all these approaches improve the sensitivity by varying the assay procedures chemically or biologically. In previous digital microfluidic setups for bead-based immunoassay, the magnetic beads were suspended for detection. We investigated the effect of bead aggregation in such an immunoassay system and propose the aggregation magnified post-assay fluorescence for ultrasensitive immunodetection on digital microfluidics (AMPFLUID). The detection signal and sensitivity are further enhanced even at the post-assay stage without altering the original assay protocol on employing magnetically triggered post-assay aggregation of beads in a digital microfluidic setup followed by processing of the fluorescent signal. This method is shown to enhance the fluorescent signal with increased consistency and sensitivity after appropriate charge-coupled device (CCD) calibration. This method of on-chip detection allows the fulfilment of consumption of a volume at the nanoliter level and a limit of detection in the range picogram/mL. In our sTNF-RI model immunoassay, only 2.5 nL of sample is required; a detection limit 15 pg/mL is achieved. The decreased uncertainty of the measure is indicated by the error bars and coefficient of variation.
Hysteresis-free polymer-stabilised blue phase liquid crystals comprising low surface tension monomers
(2015-02-01)
Hsieh, Pao-Ju
;
Chen, Huang-Ming Philip
;
分子醫學與生物工程研究所
;
光電工程學系
;
顯示科技研究所
Partial replacement of fluoroacrylates in the monomer composition is able to reduce the free energy of polymer-stabilised blue phase liquid crystal (PSBPLC) due to their low surface tension. The ease of blue phase platelet texture formation is observed under fast cooling and short annealing time before ultraviolet irradiation. The peak driving voltages are dramatically decreased from 9% to 16% in the resulting PSBPLCs. In addition, the hysteresis is completely suppressed in the PSBPLC containing 3FM-M1. The other PSBPLC containing fluoroacrylates retain very small hysteresis (oV<0.8V) regardless the fluorine atom numbers. In comparison with current PSBPLCs, the fluoroacrylates serve as mesophase enhancer not only to promote the blue phase formation but also to improve the electro-optical properties.
Investigation and comparison of analog figures-of-merit for TFET and FinFET considering work-function variation
(2015-02-01)
Lee, Ko-Chun
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Fan, Ming-Long
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Su, Pin
;
電子工程學系及電子研究所
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Department of Electronics Engineering and Institute of Electronics
This paper investigates and compares the impacts of metal-gate work-function variation on important analog figures-of-merit (FOMs) for TFET and FinFET devices using 3-D atomistic TCAD simulations. Our study indicates that, at 0.6 V supply voltage and 0.2 V gate-voltage overdrive, TFET exhibits superior variation immunity regarding transconductance to drain-current ratio (g(m)/I-DS), output resistance (R-out) and intrinsic gain, and comparable variability in g(m) and cutoff frequency (f(T)) as compared with the FinFET counterparts. In addition, how the correlations between pertinent parameters (e.g., g(m) and R-out) impact the variation immunity of important analog FOMs are analyzed. Our study may provide insights for low-voltage analog design using TFET/FinFET technologies. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
A 7.92 Gb/s 437.2 mW Stochastic LDPC Decoder Chip for IEEE 802.15.3c Applications
(2015-02-01)
Lee, Xin-Ru
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Chen, Chih-Lung
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Chang, Hsie-Chia
;
Lee, Chen-Yi
;
電子工程學系及電子研究所
This paper presents the first silicon-proven stochastic LDPC decoder to support multiple code rates for IEEE 802.15.3c applications. The critical path is improved by a reconfigurable stochastic check node unit (CNU) and variable node unit (VNU); therefore, a high throughput scheme can be realized with 768 MHz clock frequency. To achieve higher hardware and energy efficiency, the reduced complexity architecture of tracking forecast memory is experimentally investigated to implement the variable node units for IEEE 802.15.3c applications. Based on the properties of parity check matrices and stochastic arithmetic, the optimized routing networks with re-permutation techniques are adopted to enhance chip utilization. Considering the measurement uncertainties, a delay-lock loop with isolated power domain and a test environment consisting of an encoder, an AWGN generator and bypass circuits are also designed for inner clock and information generation. With these features, our proposed fully parallel LDPC decoder chip fabricated in 90-nm CMOS process with 760.3 K gate count can achieve 7.92 Gb/s data rate and power consumption of 437.2 mW under 1.2 V supply voltage. Compared to the state-of-the-art IEEE 802.15.3c LDPC decoder chips, our proposed chip achieves over 90% reduction of routing wires, 73.8% and 11.5% enhancement of hardware and energy efficiency, respectively.
Group Partition and Dynamic Rate Adaptation for Scalable Capacity-Region-Aware Device-to-Device Communications
(2015-02-01)
Liou, Yi-Shing
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Gau, Rung-Hung
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Chang, Chung-Ju
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電機工程學系
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Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
In this paper, we propose using group partition and dynamic rate adaptation for scalable throughput optimization of capacity-region-aware device-to-device communications. We adopt network information theory that allows a receiving device to simultaneously decode multiple packets from multiple transmitting devices, as long as the vector of transmitting rates is inside the capacity region. Based on graph theory, devices are first partitioned into subgroups. To optimize the throughput of a subgroup, instead of directly solving an integer-linear programming problem, we propose using a fast iterative algorithm to select active devices and using aggression levels for rate adaptation based on channel state information. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm is scalable and could significantly outperform the greedy algorithm by more than 50%.
On the buckling and crushing of expanded honeycomb
(2015-02-01)
Jang, Wen-Yea
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Kyriakides, Stelios
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機械工程學系
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Department of Mechanical Engineering
Commonly used hexagonal honeycomb is manufactured by cold expansion of a laminate of thin metal foils that are bonded along periodically placed strips. The process results in nearly hexagonal cells with double walls in one direction, small rounding at the bent corners, and leaves behind residual stresses. This paper evaluates the effect of the expansion on the compressive response of the honeycomb. A finite element model of a characteristic cell is developed using shell elements and by applying to it the appropriate periodicity conditions. The model is first expanded mechanically producing the realistic geometry and changes to the mechanical properties of the material. The cell is subsequently compressed laterally leading first to buckling, followed by collapse by progressive folding, all similar to the behavior of ideal, stress free hexagonal honeycomb. The calculated buckling stress is about 10% higher than the ideal case, the collapse stress about 5% lower and the average crushing stress somewhat higher. In addition, the buckling and collapse stresses show some sensitivity to the size of periodic domain analyzed, as indeed was the case for the ideal case. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
主動式影像擷取之光學系統及光學方法
(2015-02-01)
田仲豪
;
謝昇勲
;
黃少宏
一種主動式影像擷取之光學系統及光學方法，供擷取一物體的一光場資訊以建立一物體模型，該光學系統包含一處理單元、一光發射單元與一擷取單元。該處理單元依序地產生複數個調變訊號與複數個同步訊號。該光發射單元藉由該等調變訊號調變一第一光線並將該第一光線發射至該物體，以在該物體反射具有該物體之光場資訊一第二光線。該擷取單元藉由該等同步訊號，在每一調變訊號調變該第一光線的過程中，同步地擷取該第二光線以產生一影像。該處理單元執行一第一演算法計算複數個該影像與該等調變訊號以建立該物體模型。 The invention is related to an active image acquisition system and method. The active image acquisition system retrieves light information of an object for creating an object model. The active image acquisition system comprises a processing unit, a light emitting unit and a capturing unit. The processing unit generates a plurality of modulating signals and a plurality of synchronous signals seriatim. The light emitting unit modulates a first light beam by the modulating signals, and the first light beam is emitted to the object. The object reflects a second light beam after the first light beam incident into the object with the light information. The capturing unit generates an image after capturing the second light beam in each modulating signals modulating the first light beam. The processing unit performs a first algorithm for calculating a plurality of the images and the modulating signals, and creating the object model.
頭戴式人眼追蹤系統
(2015-02-01)
歐陽盟
;
邱俊誠
;
黃庭緯
;
胡俊誠
;
莊竣崴
一種頭戴式人眼追蹤系統，其包括第一光源、第一瞳孔影像擷取裝置、第一及第二環境影像擷取裝置、固定裝置以及影像辨別系統。第一光源適於照亮使用者的第一眼。第一瞳孔影像擷取裝置適於擷取來自第一眼中的第一瞳孔影像。第一、第二環境影像擷取裝置分別適於擷取使用者前方的第一、第二環境影像。配置於使用者的頭上的固定裝置將第一光源、第一瞳孔影像擷取裝置、第一及第二環境影像擷取裝置固定於使用者的第一眼的週圍。影像辨別系統適於將第一環境影像以及第二環境影像其中至少一者與第一瞳孔影像進行映對。 A head-mount eye tracking system including a first light source, a first pupil image capturing device, a first and a second environmental image capturing devices, a fixing device and an image identification system. The first light source is applied to illuminate a first eye of a user. The first pupil image capturing device is applied to capture a first pupil image from the first eye. The first and the second environmental image capturing devices are respectively applied to capture a first and a second environmental images in front of the user. The fixing device, disposed on the head of the user, fix the first light source, the first pupil image capturing device, the first and the second environmental image capturing devices around the first eye of the user. The image identification system is applied to map one of the first or the second environmental images to the first pupil image.
Design of Employee Training in Taiwanese Nonprofits
(2015-02-01)
Chang, Wei-Wen
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Huang, Chun-Mam
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Kuo, Yung-Cheng
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通識教育中心
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Center of General Education
Workforce learning has become a fundamental need for organizations that face a quick-changing world growing more complicated by the day. In this study, we focused on an examination into the factors that affect the design of employee training in nonprofits, including a discussion into the training practices of nonprofits as a result of those factors. Smaller nonprofits in Taiwan were studied; larger nonprofits, such as the Red Cross and World Vision, were not included in the present study. Through interviews with and surveys of 20 participating nonprofits in Taiwan, we found that the widely used linear training design framework, including assessment, design, development, implementation, and evaluation, might not be appropriate for many nonprofits due to organizational factors such as human resources, financial environments, and managerial systems. Due to the influence of these factors, the practice of training in nonprofits has moved beyond structured design, and diverse on-the-job approaches are now being applied.
Efficiency enhancement of silicon solar cells through a downshifting and antireflective oxysulfide phosphor layer
(2015-02-01)
Hung, Wen-Bin
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Chen, Teng-Ming
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應用化學系
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Department of Applied Chemistry
A simple, rapid, and low-cost anti-reflection coating (ARC) for polycrystalline silicon (pc-Si) solar cells has been developed by spin coating a solution of submicron spherical Gd2O2S:Eu3+ phosphor impregnated in a polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) matrix on the textured surface of the solar cell. Under a simulated one-sun illumination, this predesigned device achieved an enhancement of 6.74 mA/cm(2) in short-circuit current density and 2.76% in power conversion efficiency relative to those for a pristine cell. Based on photoluminescence, reflectance, and optical spectral studies, the underlying mechanism for these improvements can be attributed to the luminescent down-shifting (LDS) capability in the ultraviolet range and additional promotion of light absorption within the measured spectral region. Our results indicate that a suitable inorganic phosphor impregnated in a polymer matrix may potentially serve as a feasible solution to compensate for the spectral mismatch and Fresnel reflection loss of silicon solar cells. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Efficiency of quantum dot solar cell enhanced by improving quantum dots performance
(2015-02-01)
Weng, H. L.
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Ueng, H. Y.
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Lee, C. P.
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電子工程學系及電子研究所
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Department of Electronics Engineering and Institute of Electronics
We propose an innovative description to provide a quantitative basis to enhance the conversion efficiency of InAs/GaAs quantum dot solar cells (QDSC). A theoretical approach and numerical simulation are used to improve the performance of the quantum dots and analyze the relevance to enhance the conversion efficiency. The absorption coefficient of QDs is determined in terms of dot material, dot size, size dispersion, and shape, which are used to obtain a better match between the absorption spectrum of QDs with the portion of the solar spectrum. Either increasing the surface density for raising the photocurrent or enlarging the dot size for matching well the solar spectrum is a trade-off issue. The influence of surface density, spacer thickness, and number of dot layers on the open-circuit voltage and efficiency is discussed in detail. Moreover, volume fraction can be taken as a balance reference for the counteracting effect between J(SC) and V-OC.
Time-Division Multiplexing Monopulse Antenna System for DVB-SH Application
(2015-02-01)
Tsai, Yueh-Lin
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Hwang, Ruey-Bing
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電機學院
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College of Electrical and Computer Engineering
This study involved developing a time-division multiplexing monopulse antenna system for tracking the DVB-SH signal operated in S-band. Such a system consists of a mode-former circuit and a stacked circularly polarized antenna array, which was implemented using planar-printed circuit technology. In the mode-former circuit, a four-way power splitter comprising Wilkinson power dividers and four switched-line phase shifters were employed to provide 0 degrees/180 degrees phase angles at each output port. The sum-and-difference angle discriminators were implemented along vertical and horizontal planes for detecting the incident elevation and azimuth angles. The stacked circularly polarized antenna array, composed of four edge-fed patches on the bottom layer and four corresponding parasitic patches, were exploited on the top layer to increase the axial ratio bandwidth. The experimental results revealed that, at 2.185 GHz, the null depth of the difference patterns were -34.2 dB and -33.2 dB along the two principal planes.
Stability of symbolic embeddings for difference equations and their multidimensional perturbations
(2015-02-01)
Chen, Hung-Ju
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Li, Ming-Chia
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應用數學系
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Department of Applied Mathematics
In this paper, we study complexity of solutions of a high-dimensional difference equation of the form Phi(x(i-m), . . . , x(i-1), x(i), x(i+1), . . . , x(i+n)) = 0, i is an element of Z, where Phi is a C-1 function from (R-l)(m+n+1) to R-l. Our main result provides a sufficient condition for any sufficiently small C-1 perturbation of Phi to have symbolic embedding, that is, to possess a closed set of solutions Lambda that is invariant under the shift map, such that the restriction of the shift map to Lambda is topologically conjugate to a subshift of finite type. The sufficient condition can be easily verified when Phi depends on few variables, including the logistic and Henon families. To prove the result, we establish a global version of the implicit function theorem for perturbed equations. The proof of the main result is based on the Brouwer fixed point theorem, and the proof of the global implicit function theorem is based on the contraction mapping principle and other ingredients. Our novel approach extends results in [2,3,8,15,21]. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
基於腹部肌群機能之個人化腹式呼吸訓練評估方法與其系統
(2015-02-01)
蕭子健
;
詹珮姍
本發明提出一種基於腹部肌群機能之個人化腹式呼吸訓練評估系統及方法，可客觀評估腹式呼吸效益。第一及第二感測單元用以取得多個腹部及多個胸部呼吸訊號。一資訊擷取單元根據該多個腹部及該胸部呼吸訊號而分別產生使用者腹部及胸部呼吸波形。一資料解構單元消除該腹部及胸部呼吸波形中的雜訊，以分別產生一腹部及一胸部訊號。一評估分析單元依據該腹部及該胸部訊號，計算該腹部訊號及該胸部訊號之一相關係數、一1/2胸部訊號最大及最小擴張值、及一腹部訊號最大及最小值區間長度值，並產生使用者腹部最大運動能力。 The invention provides an abdominal breathing training evaluation method and apparatus based on abdominal muscles cluster function, which can objectively evaluate efficiency of abdominal breathing. A first sensing unit and a second sensing unit are used to measure abdominal signals and rib cage signals during breathing. According to the abdominal signals and the rib cage signals, an abdominal waveform and a rib cage waveform are generated by a data extractor. A data processing unit removes noise in the abdominal waveform and the rib cage waveform to generate a pure abdominal signal and a rib cage signal, respectively. According to the abdominal signal and the rib cage signal, an evaluation unit is used to calculate a correlation coefficient of the abdominal signal and the thoracic signal so as to generate maximum abdominal exercise capability of a user.
Single longitudinal mode Ytterbium doped fiber lasers with large proposed tuning range
(2015-02-01)
Yu, Y. L.
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Liaw, S. K.
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Hsu, W. C.
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Shih, M. H.
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Chen, N. K.
A 1,064 nm band Ytterbium doped fiber laser (YDFL) is proposed and investigated. Using 70 cm gain fiber and recycling pumping scheme, a high slope efficiency of 50 % and low threshold power of 53 mW are obtained. The power variation is less than 0.1 dB in 13 nm tuning span. Using the Vernier effect, near single frequency lasing is realized for the whole tuning range in 2 dBm output power. Have advantages of simpler structure, larger pump slope efficiency and possible shorter cavity, the YDFL may find potential applications in various ways.
Product mix determination and capacity allocation for heterogeneous products in thin film transistor liquid crystal display manufacturing
(2015-02-01)
Tai, Y. T.
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Pearn, W. L.
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Chen, C. C.
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工業工程與管理學系
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Department of Industrial Engineering and Management
In the thin-film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) manufacturing, the development of models to determine product mix and capacity allocation for a multi-stage, multi-site, and multi-generation company is very important. As rapid advancement of the electronic-paper display (EPD) technology, it is a trend of the coexistence of heterogeneous products involving LCD and EPD products. In the case we investigated, the TFT-LCD company merged an EPD company and incorporated their electro-phoretic technologies into their company. Notably, the manufacturing processes of the EPD products do not incorporate the process steps of liquid crystal injection and attachment of color filters. Consequently, to minimize the total cost, it is essential to decide the appropriate product mix and capacity allocation with considerations of the resource consumption of LCD and EPD products simultaneously. In this paper, we present mathematical models to determine product mix and capacity allocation, which involve three subsystems for TFT-LCD process with consideration of net demand, inventory level, yield rates, cost, margin, outsourcing allocation, cycle time, and panel conversion rate. To demonstrate the applicability of the proposed models, we present a real-world case taken from a TFT-LCD company located in the Science-Based Industrial Park at Hsinchu, Taiwan and perform sensitivity analysis to investigate the effect on the optimal solution. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
GnRH mRNA levels in male three-spined sticklebacks, Gasterosteus aculeatus, under different reproductive conditions
(2015-02-01)
Shao, Yi Ta
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Tseng, Yung Che
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Chang, Chia-Hao
;
Yan, Hong Young
;
Hwang, Pung Pung
In vertebrates, reproduction is regulated by the brain-pituitary-gonad (BPG) axis, where the gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) is one of the key components. However, very little is known about the possible role of GnRH in the environmental and feedback control of fish reproduction. To investigate this, full-length gnrh2 (chicken GnRH II) and gnrh3 (salmon GnRH) sequences of male three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus), which are clustered with the taxa of the same GnRH type as other Euteleostei, were cloned and annotated. gnrh1 is absent in this species. The mRNA levels of gnrh2 and gnrh3 in the sticklebacks\' brain were measured under breeding and post-breeding conditions as well as in castrated and sham-operated breeding fish and castrated/sham-operated fish kept under long-day (LD 16:8) and short-day (LD 8:16) conditions. Fully breeding males had considerably higher mRNA levels of gnrh2 and gnrh3 in the thalamus (Th) and in the telencephalon and preoptic area (T + POA), respectively, than post-breeding males. Sham-operated breeding males have higher gnrh3 mRNA levels than the corresponding castrated males. Moreover, higher gnrh2 mRNA levels in the Th and higher gnrh3 mRNA levels in the T + POA and hypothalamus (HypTh) were also found in long-day sham-operated males than in sham-operated fish kept under an inhibitory short day photoperiod. Nevertheless, gnrh2 and gnrh3 mRNA levels were not up-regulated in castrated males kept under long-day photoperiod, which suggests that positive feedbacks on the brain-pituitary-gonad axis are necessary for this response. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Optical trapping assembling of clusters and nanoparticles in solution by CW and femtosecond lasers
(2015-02-01)
Masuhara, Hiroshi
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Sugiyama, Teruki
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Yuyama, Ken-ichi
;
Usman, Anwar
;
應用化學系
Laser trapping of molecular systems in solution is classified into three cases: JUST TRAPPING, EXTENDED TRAPPING, and NUCLEATION and GROWTH. The nucleation in amino acid solutions depends on where the 1064-nm CW trapping laser is focused, and crystallization and liquid-liquid phase separation are induced by laser trapping at the solution/air surface and the solution/glass interface, respectively. Laser trapping crystallization is achieved even in unsaturated solution, on which unique controls of crystallization are made possible. Crystal size is arbitrarily controlled by tuning laser power for a plate-like anhydrous crystal of L-phenylalanine. The a-or c-crystal polymorph of glycine is selectively prepared by changing laser power and polarization. Further efficient trapping of nanoparticles and their following ejection induced by femtosecond laser pulses are introduced as unique trapping phenomena and finally future perspective is presented.
Mobile cloud-based depression diagnosis using an ontology and a Bayesian network
(2015-02-01)
Chang, Yue-Shan
;
Fan, Chih-Tien
;
Lo, Win-Tsung
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Hung, Wan-Chun
;
Yuan, Shyan-Ming
Recently, depression has becomes a widespread disease throughout the world. However, most people are not aware of the possibility of becoming depressed during their daily lives. Therefore, obtaining an accurate diagnosis of depression is an important issue in healthcare. In this study, we built an inference model based on an ontology and a Bayesian network to infer the possibility of becoming depressed, and we implemented a prototype using a mobile agent platform as a proof-of-concept in the mobile cloud. We developed an ontology model based on the terminology used to describe depression and we utilized a Bayesian network to infer the probability of becoming depressed. We also implemented the system using multi-agents to run on the Android platform, thereby demonstrating the feasibility of this method, and we addressed various implementation issues. The results showed that our method may be useful for inferring a diagnosis of depression. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.