Akio Koide

Polyhedral approximation approach to molecular orbital graphics

Abstract Interactive molecular orbital display and manipulation system is developed under the concept of polyhedral approximation of equivalued surfaces of orbital and density functions. Two new methods for generating polyhedral data, lscell-based’ and ‘propagation’ methods, are presented. The use of stored polyhedral data largely simplifies the shaded-image synthesis, direct manipulation, and animation display of molecular orbitals. Manual overlay of frontier orbitais is useful to estimate the geometries of chemically reacting molecules.

Analysis and simulation of business solutions in a service-oriented architecture

Modeling and simulation of business processes is a powerful capability for analysis of business solutions in a service-oriented architecture (SOA). In this paper, we describe analysis techniques that are applicable during the design-time and runtime development of business solutions to estimate business process performance. During the design phase, our analysis framework converts the business process model, which is annotated with additional information, into a more granular model by using an underlying middleware model that describes all the middleware components in an SOA. The resulting model can then be evaluated in terms of performance and cost. We discuss a prototype implementation that uses WebSphere® Business Integration (WBI) Modeler and present the results of a case study. After the design phase, several services required to support the business process execution may exist, but others may need to be newly developed. Our runtime simulation framework supports this by allowing users to simulate implementation models consisting of real and simulated services for function and performance testing. Furthermore, when new services are available, they can be easily included in the analysis by switching from the Simulator to the new service. We discuss a prototype implementation for this capability that uses the Process Choreographer of WBI Server Foundation and present results of a case study.

Secure digital photograph handling with watermarking technique in insurance claim process

This paper presents a secure method to handle digital photographs in insurance claim process. It consists of: Device authentication by secure protocol capable to protect photographs from substitution, Watermarking technique to embed digital signatures on JPEG data and detect altered portions, and Robust watermarking technique to embed image identification number which persists throughout decompression/compression operations. The device authentication is used in transmissions of photograph images from a digital camera (DC) to a compact flash memory (CF), and from a CF to a personal computer (PC). Thus images are authenticated at the one-way pass of DC, CF and PC. In registering images on PC, an image identification number and a digital signature are embedded into a JPEG data stream by a watermarking technique called DataHidingTM. We could imbed 96 bits of data into a 640 X 480 pixel image without degrading visual image quality and persistency of embedding data. After the watermarking process, a photograph can be identified by decoding an embedded number and detected any altered portion by an embedded signature. Using the new method, we have developed a prototype secure claim process, and verified the feasibility of the method at field trials.

Integrated medical-image system for cancer research and treatment

This paper describes a large, heterogeneous network of supercomputers, workstations, and personal computers for clinicians and researchers at the National Cancer Center in Tokyo. Intended uses of the system include a medical-image database, a patient-record database, visualization of 3D medical images, computer-assisted diagnosis, genome and protein databases, and proof-of-concept synthetic environments. An overview of the system is followed by detailed descriptions of two subsystems: the medical-image-database subsystem and the synthetic-environment subsystem. The medical-image-database subsystem integrates a large number of image-acquisition devices, such as X-ray computed tomography and ultrasound echography equipment. The image database is designed for a high image-data input rate by means of a storage hierarchy and high-speed network connections. The synthetic-environment subsystem includes two prototype applications (a neurosurgery simulator and an anatomy viewer) that explore the possibilities of synthetic-environment technology in medicine.

Business Process Transformation Wizard: a Bridge between Business Analysts and Business Process Transformation Technology

In spite of many advances in business process modeling and simulation technologies, their adoption by the business analyst community has been primarily limited to specialists. We propose a business process transformation wizard as a tool to bridge this gap. This enables users to easily analyze their performance using quantitative technologies by using a business process transformation patterns library to explore different transformation options and by showing the minimum and most commonly required information that can drive transformation initiatives.

Business process transformation patterns & the business process transformation wizard

In spite of many advances in business process simulation technologies, their adoption by the business analyst community has been primarily limited to specialists. We propose a business process transformation wizard as a capability to bridge this gap. This enables analysts to explore different business process transformation options using business process transformation patterns and analyze their performance using quantitative technologies. In this paper, we explain the approach encapsulated in the BPT wizard and illustrate it with an example

Business process simulation with IT depth

We propose a framework for modeling and simulating business processes with IT depth. This enables both business level and IT level users to be supported by a common approach, by developing the models at different levels of granularity. We believe that such a common approach also progress us toward reducing the gap between business and IT. This approach can be used by business users to analyze a business process to gain insight into the business process and analyze the tradeoffs between different key performance indicators. It can also be used by IT users to analyze the business process at an IT level to gain insight to the tradeoffs between performance and cost and analyze the infrastructure for sizing and capacity planning

High-speed image display algorithm for 3-D grid data

In this paper, we propose a high-speed and direct imaging algorithm for constructing equi-valued surfaces from 3D grid data in scientific and enneering fields. Our basic idea is to generate and draw polygons simultaneously by processing the cells spanned by grids in order of decreasing distance from the current viewpoint. Equi-valued surfaces are generated in five tetrahedrons into which the cells are subdivided, and are sent to a graphics device. The execution order of each of the tetrahedrons is identical and determined by the current viewpoint. Since the algorithm does not need a store of intermediate polyhedral data, depth calculation, or depth buffer memory for hidden surface removal, the user can get a quick response to changes of the view direction and of the surface constant C in interactive graphics. This algorithm is particularly powerful for imaging multiple surfaces associated with multiple surface constants in semi-transparent display.

Proactive business performance management in the book distribution industry

This paper presents a feasibility study of proactive business performance management based on monitoring data for the Japanese book market. By using two years of such data, we developed three types of forecasts. We tested them with simulations to show how prediction-based book distribution can improve the book business

Profit optimization with coexisting buy-back and wholesale-price contracts

This paper gives a model for profit optimization by a distributor when buy-back and wholesale-price contracts coexist. It is applicable to industries such as fashion, games, and publishing industries, where many new products are shipped to the market every day and with very short lives. We provide a method to determine the optimal sizes of push-type shipments based on retailer behavior and the uncertainties of consumer demand forecasts.