Synthetic CD4 exocyclic peptides antagonize CD4 holoreceptor binding and T cell activation

We have developed peptide analogs to analyze precise human CD4 substructures involved in MHC class II binding. Forms of the complementarity determining-like regions (CDRs) of the D1 domain of human CD4 were reproduced as synthetic aromatically modified exocyclic (AME) analogs and tested for their ability to block CD4-MHC II interactions and T cell activation. The exocyclic derived from CDR3 (residues 82-89) of human CD4, which specifically associated with CD4 on the T cell surface to create a heteromeric CD4 complex, blocked IL-2 production and antagonized the normal function of the CD4 receptor. The approach of creating novel synthetic antagonistic receptor complexes may represent a new receptor specific pharmaceutical approach to modulate biological function.     

Doppler-broadened positron annihilation studies in Y-Ba-Cu-O,Tl-Ca-Ba-Cu-O and Bi-Ca-Sr-Cu-O superconductors

Doppler-broadened annihilation radiation spectra have been measured as a function of temperature from 77 K to 300 K, for several high temperature oxide superconductors viz single-phase YBCO, single- and mixed-phase Tl-Ca-Ba-Cu-O and Bi-Ca-Sr-Cu-O compounds. The temperature-dependent parameters extracted respond to a change at the onset of superconducting transition. The observations point to involvement of oxygen valence electrons at the onset of superconducting transition. Also a possible structural change and/or increase in electron density at the oxygen vacancy/defect sites seem to accompany the transition. In addition, the parameters derived are seen to be sensitive to the presence of more than one superconducting phases in mixed phase samples.     

Depth from defocus: A spatial domain approach

A new method named STM is described for determining distance of objects and rapid autofocusing of camera systems. STM uses image defocus information and is based on a new Spatial-Domain Convolution/Deconvolution Transform. The method requires only two images taken with different camera parameters such as lens position, focal length, and aperture diameter. Both images can be arbitrarily blurred and neither of them needs to be a focused image. Therefore STM is very fast in comparison with Depth-from-Focus methods which search for the lens position or focal length of best focus. The method involves simple local operations and can be easily implemented in parallel to obtain the depth-map of a scene. STM has been implemented on an actual camera system named SPARCS. Experiments on the performance of STM and their results on real-world planar objects are presented. The results indicate that the accuracy of STM compares well with Depth-from-Focus methods and is useful in practical applications. The utility of the method is demonstrated for rapid autofocusing of electronic cameras.     

Thermal distribution calculations for block level placement in embedded systems

Reliability is a very important concern for the embedded systems. Thermal distribution has become an important reliability concern for today’s integrated circuits and these circuits are being used increasingly in embedded systems. In traditional design flows, the temperature of the chip is assumed to be uniform across the substrate. However, non-uniform thermal distribution can be a major source of inaccuracy in delay and clock skew computations, and can have an impact on elctromigration reliability and self-heating effects for today’s very deep submicron technology. Hence, it has become necessary to obtain design with uniform temperature distribution to ensure minimum temperature gradient and avoid hot spots across the chip area. This will minimise reliability problems during the operation of the chip. The uniform temperature distribution can be achieved by appropriate placement of circuit blocks during the physical design. In this paper, thermal distribution of single chip embedded system on silicon is discussed. The thermal distribution calculations require evaluation of switching activity factor of circuit blocks. This factor is determined by computing activities of the blocks based on the application software of embedded system.     

Molecular recognition of a peptide mimic of the Lewis Y antigen by an anti-Lewis Y antibody

Peptides as mimics of carbohydrates display a distinct advantage in vaccine design because of ease of synthesis and their inherent T cell-dependent nature as immunogens. While peptides that mimic carbohydrates have been described, it is not clear how they do so. To further our insight into structural relationships between peptide-mimics and carbohydrate structures, we have analyzed a potential recognition scheme between the murine monoclonal antibody, B3, directed against the tumor-associated antigen Lewis Y oligosaccharide and a peptide identified from phage display screening with B3. The Lewis Y core antigen is a difucosylated structure consisting of four hexose units. The B3 antibody binds to the peptide sequence APWLYGPA in which the putative sequence APWLY is critical for binding to the antibody. Not having experimental structural information for B3, the crystal structure of another anti-Lewis Y antibody, BR96, solved in complex with a nonoate methyl ester Lewis Y tetrasaccharide, provides a molecular basis for LeY antigen recognition and specificity, and how this binding relates to peptide binding. As a guide to place the APWLY motif in the B3 combining site, a fragment library was searched for analogous compounds that have the potential to bind to B3. Our modeling study shows that the B3-peptide complex shares similar recognition features for the difucosylated type 2 lactoseries' structure. This analysis provides a molecular perspective for peptide mimicry of a carbohydrate epitope.     

Growth of cadmium selenide layers by electrodeposition

Cadmium selenide (CdSe) films have been electrodeposited from a bath containing CdSO₄ and SeO₂. The pH of the bath was around 2. The deposition was done by short circuiting different substrates like Indium Tin Oxide ITO, molybdenum, sodium selenosulphite etc. to an easily oxidizable electrode (such as Al/Cd) in an electrolytic bath. The temperature of the deposition bath was varied in the range 60 to 85 ° C. The as-grown films were characterized by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. Electrical characterization of the ITO/ CdSe/In structure was made by studying the current-voltage characteristics. Optical absorption measurements yielded a direct band gap around 1.65eV.     

A novel technique for in-line monitoring of micro-contamination andprocess induced damage

The use of a simple, rapid and nondestructive technique for inline monitoring of electrically active impurities introduced during wafer fabrication is reported. This AC surface photovoltage-based technique can determine the substrate doping type, doping concentration, oxide charge, and energy distribution of interface traps on both bare and oxidized silicon wafers without the formation of gate electrodes and substrate contacts. The technique is shown to have good reproducibility and resolution for quantifying the electrically active impurities, on the order of 1×10¹⁰ q/cm². Detection of contaminants and static charges by this technique is shown to correlate well with the electrical performance of thin dielectrics. The use of this technique for inline monitoring of very low levels of plasma-induced damage in the SiO₂/Si system is also discussed as is the potential for this tool in reducing furnace downtimes and in prompt identification of the source of contamination     

Wiki Technology as A “Free” Collaborative Tool within an Organizational Setting

This article provides a brief tutorial of Wiki technology as a collaborative tool. A case example from a university administration context suggests that - like many other end-user technologies - training and support needs should be carefully considered before the potential value of using this “free” technology to support knowledge management efforts can be satisfactorily realized.