High definition systems in Japan

The successful implementation of a strategy to produce high-definition systems within the Japanese economy will favorably affect the fundamental competitiveness of Japan relative to the rest of the world. The development of an infrastructure necessary to support high-definition products and systems in that country involves major commitments of engineering resources, plants and equipment, educational programs and funding. The results of these efforts appear to affect virtually every aspect of the Japanese industrial complex. The results of assessments of the current progress of Japan toward the development of high-definition products and systems are presented. The assessments are based on the findings of a panel of U.S. experts made up of individuals from U.S. academia and industry, and derived from a study of the Japanese literature combined with visits to the primary relevant industrial laboratories and development agencies in Japan. Specific coverage includes an evaluation of progress in R&D for high-definition television (HDTV) displays that are evolving in Japan; high-definition standards and equipment development; Japanese intentions for the use of HDTV; economic evaluation of Japan's public policy initiatives in support of high-definition systems; management analysis of Japan's strategy of leverage with respect to high-definition products and systems

Vacuum Annealed Cu contacts for graphene electronics

We present transfer-length-method measurements of the contact resistance between Cu and graphene, and a method to significantly reduce the contact resistance by vacuum annealing. Even in samples with heavily contaminated contacts, the contacts display very low contact resistance post annealing. Due to the common use of Cu, and it's low chemical reactivity with graphene, thermal annealing will be important for future graphene devices requiring non-perturbing contacts with low contact resistance.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure

Posterior Cruciate-retaining Total Knee Arthroplasty for Valgus Osteoarthritis

The valgus, osteoarthritic knee is challenging technically and it is unknown whether and how technical and implant variables influence outcomes. We therefore determined the influence of surgical technique of soft tissue balancing and patient and implant factors from 100 unselected cruciate-retaining TKAs for valgus osteoarthritis in patients younger than 75 years of age. From 1987 to 1990, lateral soft tissue balancing was done with an outside-in progression in which the lateral collateral ligament and popliteus were typically released from the femur. From 1991 to 1994, an inside-out technique was use in which the lateral collateral ligament and/or popliteus were typically preserved. The minimum followup was 0.1 year (mean, 8.2 years; range, 0.1–18.2 years). Fourteen of 16 revisions were for wear and/or instability. Popliteus release, lateral collateral ligament release, or greater polyethylene shelf age increased the risk of revision. At 10 postoperative years, survival (end point, revision) was 89% (100 knees), 94% when the shelf age was less than 1 year (n = 73 knees), 97% when the popliteus or lateral collateral ligament was not released (n = 57 knees), and 100% when both conditions were met (n = 39 knees). Cruciate-retaining implants can be successfully used in knees with any degree of valgus osteoarthritis and survival is improved when the surgeon preserves at least one of the structures providing lateral stability in flexion and uses polyethylene with a short shelf life