National Applied Research Laboratories Research Articles

Creatinine-Detecting Laser Diode-Induced Fluorescence Detection System

Under highly alkaline conditions, creatinine reacts with 3.5-dinitrobenzoic acid (DNB) to produce a product that can absorb ultraviolet light at a wavelength of 400 nm and emit fluorescence at a wavelength of 491 nm. Thus, creatinine concentration can be calculated using fluorescence intensity. A novel fluorescence-based bioassay for rat creatinine that is capable of rapid detection at a low cost was developed in this study. A fluorescence sensing system was established using a micro-spectrometer, a 3-D translation stage, and a laser diode (LD) to measure various concentrations of serum creatinine. The measurable range was 12.5– <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$300 ~\mu $ </tex-math></inline-formula> mol/L ( <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${R}^{2} $ </tex-math></inline-formula> = 0.996), and the limit of detection (LOD) was <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$5 ~\mu $ </tex-math></inline-formula> mol/L. The intraday precision and accuracy ranges were 7.33%–10.11% and 81.82%–99.75%, respectively, while the interday precision and accuracy ranges were 3.08%–9.39% and 86.75%–87.85%, respectively. Additionally, the test results for rat serum were compared with those from the National Laboratory Animal Center of National Applied Research Laboratories in Taiwan, and the correlation coefficient was determined to be 0.80.

PRAGMA‐ENT: An International SDN testbed for cyberinfrastructure in the Pacific Rim

SummaryThe Pacific Rim Application and Grid Middleware Assembly (PRAGMA) is an international community of researchers that actively collaborate to address problems and challenges of common interest in eScience. The PRAGMA Experimental Network Testbed (PRAGMA‐ENT) was established with the goal of constructing an international software‐defined network (SDN) testbed to offer the necessary networking support to the PRAGMA cyberinfrastructure. PRAGMA‐ENT is isolated, and PRAGMA researchers have complete freedom to access network resources to develop, experiment, and evaluate new ideas without the concerns of interfering with production networks.In the first phase, PRAGMA‐ENT focused on establishing an international L2 backbone. With support from the Florida Lambda Rail, Internet2, PacificWave, Japan Gigabit Network, and TaiWan Advanced Research and Education Network, PRAGMA‐ENT backbone connects openflow‐enabled switches at University of Florida, University of California, San Diego, Nara Institute of Science and Technology (Japan), Osaka University (Japan), National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (Japan), and National Applied Research Laboratories (Taiwan).The second phase of PRAGMA‐ENT consisted of an evaluation of technologies for the control plane that enables multiple experiments (ie, OpenFlow controllers) to coexist. Preliminary experiments with FlowVisor revealed some limitations leading to the development of a new approach, called AutoVFlow.This paper describes our experience in the establishment of PRAGMA‐ENT backbone (with international L2 links), its current status, and plans for the control plane. Discussion of preliminary application ideas, including optimization of routing control; multipath routing control; extending the backbone using overlay network; and remote visualization are also discussed.

Optimal Integration of the Ensemble Forecasts from an Ensemble Quantitative Precipitation Forecast Experiment

For providing precipitation forecasts in Taiwan, Taiwan Typhoon and Flood Research Institute of the National Applied Research Laboratories executes a numerical weather model based quantitative precipitation forecast experiment. In this study, we first evaluate the performance of the ensemble precipitation forecasts during typhoons. Then, a strategy based on artificial intelligence is proposed to optimal integrate these ensemble forecasts for better forecasting performance. To demonstrate the potential of the proposed strategy, an application to 24-h precipitation forecasts during 5 typhoons is conducted. The results indicate that the skill scores of the forecasts provided by the proposed optimal integration strategy are higher as compared to those of the ensemble members and of the ensemble mean, especially for the extreme values. That is, an improved forecasting performance is obtained. The improved precipitation forecasts are expected to be helpful for the disaster decision making during typhoons.

Extraction of Archaeological Information Using High Resolution FormoSAT-2 Data

This paper investigates the potential use of the high resolution FormoSAT-2 sensor for supporting archaeological research. Although satellite remote sensing data have been widely used in the context of archaeological research, the high-resolution FormoSAT-2 dataset has attracted little attention. For a better understanding of the Neolithic habitation of the Thessalian plain in central Greece, the authors have used a variety of remote sensing techniques, including satellite and in situ data. In situ spectroradiometric measurements have been recalculated based on the Relative Response Filters of the FormoSAT-2 sensor and compared with other medium- and high-resolution sensors. The FormoSAT-2 spectral characteristics tend to give similar results with the Landsat 5 TM and 7 ETM+ sensors during the whole phenological cycle of the crops, which make this ideal for pan-sharpening fusion techniques. As we found, FormoSAT-2 data can be sufficiently used for the documentation of tells (locally called magoules) in the area as well as to reconstruct the current landscape of the area. Results presented here are part of the ISPRS WG VI/5 “Archaeo-FORMOSAT” project, sponsored by the National Space Organization, National Applied Research Laboratories (NARLabs-NSPO) and jointly supported by the Chinese Taipei Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing and the Center for Space and Remote Sensing Research (CSRSR) at the National Central University (NCU) of Taiwan.

Advanced Functional Nanomaterials Synthesis and Nanocrystal Growth Technology

1 Instrument Technology Research Center, National Applied Research Laboratories, Hsinchu City, Taiwan 2Department of Photonics, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu City 30076, Taiwan 3Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology, Saga University, Saga 840-8502, Japan 4Department of Electronic Engineering, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan City 33302, Taiwan 5Department of Photonics Engineering, Yuan Ze University, Taoyuan City 32003, Taiwan 6Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TH, UK

Corrigendum to &amp;quot;Inter-annual variation of chlorophyll in the northern South China Sea observed at the SEATS Station and its asymmetric responses to climate oscillation&amp;quot; published in Biogeosciences, 10, 7449–7462, 2013

K.-K. Liu1, L.-W. Wang1, M. Dai2, C.-M. Tseng3, Y. Yang4, C.-H. Sui5, L. Oey1, K.-Y. Tseng1, and S.-M. Huang1 1Institute of Hydrological and Oceanic Sciences, National Central University, Chungli, Taiwan 2State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China 3Institute of Oceanography, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan 4Taiwan Ocean Research Institute, National Applied Research Laboratories, Kaohsiung, Taiwan 5Department of Atmospheric Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

Membership notes

Reports on the IMS Taipei Section Chapter Highlights of the International Scientific Instrument Technology Workshop (ISITW). The International Scientific Instrument Technology Workshop (ISITW) is an annual two-week training course that is hosted by the Instrument Technology Research Center (ITRC) of the National Applied Research Laboratories (NARL) in Hsinchu, Taiwan with the desire to build an international collaboration platform, as well as the i-ONE International Instrument Technology Innovation Competition.

CLOUD BASED WEB 3D GIS TAIWAN PLATFORM

Abstract. This article presents the status of the web 3D GIS platform, which has been developed in the National Applied Research Laboratories. The purpose is to develop a global earth observation 3D GIS platform for applications to disaster monitoring and assessment in Taiwan. For quick response to preliminary and detailed assessment after a natural disaster occurs, the web 3D GIS platform is useful to access, transfer, integrate, display and analyze the multi-scale huge data following the international OGC standard. The framework of cloud service for data warehousing management and efficiency enhancement using VMWare is illustrated in this article.

Application of Near Real-Time and Multiscale Three Dimensional Earth Observation Platforms in Disaster Prevention

Taiwan frequently experiences natural disasters such as typhoons, floods, landslides, debris flows, and earthquakes. Therefore, the instant acquisition of high-definition images and topographic or spatial data of affected areas as disasters occur is crucial for disaster response teams and making emergency aid decisions. The National Applied Research Laboratories has implemented the project “development of near real-time, high-resolution, global earth observation 3D platform for applications to environmental monitoring and disaster mitigation.” This developmental project integrates earth observation techniques, data warehousing, high-performance visualization displays, grids, and disaster prevention technology to establish a near real-time high-resolution three-dimensional (3D) disaster prevention earth observation application platform for Taiwan. The main functions of this platform include (1) integration of observation information, such as Formosat-2 satellite remote sensing, aerial photography, and 3D photography of disaster sites, to provide multidimensional information of the conditions at the affected sites; (2) disaster prevention application technologies, such as large-sized high-resolution 3D projection system, medium-sized active stereo projection systems, and small-sized personal computers with multiscale 3D display systems; (3) a 3D geographical information network platform that integrates data warehousing and cloud services, complies with the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) international standard for image data exchange and release processes, and includes image overlaying and added-value analysis of disasters; and (4) near real-time and automated simulation of image processing procedures, which accelerates orthophoto processing once raw data are received from satellites and provides appropriate images for disaster prevention decision-making within 3 to 6 h. This study uses the 88 Flood event of Typhoon Morakot in 2009, Typhoon Fanapi in 2011, and the 311 Earthquake of Japan in 2011 as examples to dissert the applications, functions and features of this platform for supporting disaster response and disaster recovery decision-making.

Taiwan's second remote sensing satellite

FORMOSAT-2 is Taiwan's first remote sensing satellite (RSS). It was launched on 20 May 2004 with five-year mission life and a very unique mission orbit at 891 km altitude. This orbit gives FORMOSAT-2 the daily revisit feature and the capability of imaging the Arctic and Antarctic regions due to the high enough altitude. For more than three years, FORMOSAT-2 has performed outstanding jobs and its global effectiveness is evidenced in many fields such as public education in Taiwan, Earth science and ecological niche research, preservation of the world heritages, contribution to the International Charter: space and major disasters, observation of suspected North Korea and Iranian nuclear facilities, and scientific observation of the atmospheric transient luminous events (TLEs). In order to continue the provision of earth observation images from space, the National Space Organization (NSPO) of Taiwan started to work on the second RSS from 2005. This second RSS will also be Taiwan's first indigenous satellite. Both the bus platform and remote sensing instrument (RSI) shall be designed and manufactured by NSPO and the Instrument Technology Research Center (ITRC) under the supervision of the National Applied Research Laboratories (NARL). Its onboard computer (OBC) shall use Taiwan's indigenous LEON-3 central processing unit (CPU). In order to achieve cost effective design, the commercial off the shelf (COTS) components shall be widely used. NSPO shall impose the up-screening/qualification and validation/verification processes to ensure their normal functions for proper operations in the severe space environments.