The novel heat-stable enterotoxin subtype gene (ystB) of Yersinia enterocolitica: nucleotide sequence and distribution of the yst genes

The gene (ystB) encoding the novel subtype of the heat-stable enterotoxin (Y-STb) was cloned from the chromosome of a clinical isolate of Yersinia enterocolitica 84-50 (serotype O:5, biotype 1A) and the nucleotide sequence was determined. The ystB contained 216 base pairs that encoded a protein of 71 amino acid residues. The C-terminal 30 residues of the precursor protein exactly corresponded to the amino acid sequence of the Y-STb toxin, purified from the culture supernatant of the wild strain. Homology search revealed that there are 76.9% nucleotide sequence similarity between ystB and the Yersinia kristensenii ST gene, and 73.5% with the Y. enterocolitica prototype sequence of yst (ystA). When tested with the PCR generated ystB specific probe, 36 of 304 Y. enterocolitica strains from 18 countries hybridized with the probe. All the ystB probe positive strains belonged to biotype 1A and mostly to the so-called non-pathogenic serotype O:5, O:6, O:7,8 O:7,13 and O:10, while ystA was predominantly found among the pathogenic serotypes (78.5%). Out of 36 ystB gene positive strains, 18 were clinical origin from six countries, which were also positive in the suckling mice assay suggesting that ystB may play an important role in the pathogenesis, and the so-called non-pathogenic serotypes could be virulent for human.     

Dynamic routing in translucent WDM optical networks: the intradomain case

Translucent wavelength-division multiplexing optical networks use sparse placement of regenerators to overcome physical impairments and wavelength contention introduced by fully transparent networks, and achieve a performance close to fully opaque networks at a much less cost. In previous studies, we addressed the placement of regenerators based on static schemes, allowing for only a limited number of regenerators at fixed locations. This paper furthers those studies by proposing a dynamic resource allocation and dynamic routing scheme to operate translucent networks. This scheme is realized through dynamically sharing regeneration resources, including transmitters, receivers, and electronic interfaces, between regeneration and access functions under a multidomain hierarchical translucent network model. An intradomain routing algorithm, which takes into consideration optical-layer constraints as well as dynamic allocation of regeneration resources, is developed to address the problem of translucent dynamic routing in a single routing domain. Network performance in terms of blocking probability, resource utilization, and running times under different resource allocation and routing schemes is measured through simulation experiments.     

Performance Analysis of Wire Electrodes on Machining Ti-6Al-4V Alloy using Electrical Discharge Machining Process

High-strength materials with complex shapes can be easily machined by electrical discharge machining process. In the present study, an attempt has been made to analyze the influence of wire electrode on Kerf width and workpiece surface roughness in wire EDM process. Due to its importance in the aircrafts and automobiles, Ti-6Al-4V alloy has been chosen as the workpiece material. The various experiments have been conducted based on a Taguchi L₉ orthogonal array with various types of wire electrodes, such as conventional brass wire, zinc-coated wire and diffused coated brass wire. From the experimental results, it has been observed that diffused coated wire produced better surface finish with minimum kerf width compared to the other two wire electrodes. It has also been observed that the pulse off-time has more influent nature on machining characteristics such as surface roughness and kerf width.     

Routing,modulation level and spectrum allocation with dynamic modulation level conversion in elastic optical networks

Elastic optical network is introduced as a promising technology to provide multi-bitrate-friendly data transmission in the optical layer. Elastic optical networks are based on flexible modulation format conversion, which can make more efficient use of spectrum resources than current fix-grid WDM networks. In this paper, we define the routing, modulation level and spectrum resource allocation (RMLSA) problem and then propose two novel dynamic modulation level conversion (MLC) enabled RMLSA algorithms. Numerical simulations are conducted to compare the performance of the path modulation level conversion (Path-MLC) and link modulation level conversion (Link-MLC) with different MLC thresholds with K-shortest paths RSA in terms of blocking rate, occupied spectrum and the number of MLCs across two topologies. The results verify that the Link-MLC with unlimited MLC achieves the lowest blocking rate and moderate spectrum utilization at the expense of intermediate node modulation conversions in two topologies. Smaller MLC threshold has higher blocking rate and occupied less spectrum resource. The results also suggest that the Path-MLC approach is more resource efficient than the Link-MLC with relatively higher blocking rate, and this method maybe more preferable in the networks with tight budget and/or energy constraints.     

Effects of ovariectomy on bone morphology in maxillae of mature rats.

Postmenopausal oestrogen deficiency results in bone loss (osteoporosis) in humans and experimental animals. The loss of trabecular bone in the ovariectomized (OVX) rat provides a useful experimental model of post-menopausal osteoporosis. At 5 months after ovariectomy of 3-month-old female rats, the mid and distal femurs and maxillae were dissected and processed for quantitative backscattered electron microscopic examinations. Histomorphometric analysis of femurs in OVX rats showed significant loss in metaphyseal trabecular bone areas compared with sham-operated controls; no significant bone loss was observed in the cortical bone areas of mid-diaphyses in OVX rats. Net bone areas in the maxillae of OVX rats was similar to that of sham-operated controls. Bone structure of maxillae in OVX rats was also similar to that in controls. Our results suggest that, in this animal model of osteoporosis, prominent bone loss occurs mainly in the bone areas formed by endochondral ossification such as distal femurs, but those areas formed by intramembranous ossification such as mid-femurs and maxillae sustained less effects by OVX.     

A multi-attribute measure for innovation adoption: the context ofimaging technology

Despite an extensive body of research on innovation adoption, one finds many inconsistent and conflicting findings in the literature. This problem stems from the lack of a generally accepted measure of adoption. The authors' study develops a more fine-grained yet robust measure of innovation adoption, using two important attributes: radicalness and relative advantage. These measures are developed in the context of the hospital industry and validated in a study that examines the relationship between organizational climate and the adoption of imaging technology innovations in 70 hospitals     

低温浸入和尖峰快速热处理对NiSi生成的影响

自对准硅化物通常用于降低多晶硅栅的薄层电阻(Rs)和硅源/漏(S/D)区域的接触电阻。对于90nm以下的器件,S/D区域还要求是重掺杂的超浅结,以抑制     

Scratch durability of automotive clear coatings: A quantitative, reliable and robust methodology

Scratch and mar durability of clear coatings are issues of concern to the automobile manufacturer and paint supplier. Scratching of clearcoats is a consequence of tribological events encountered by painted exteriors during normal service life. Several subjective methods to assess scratch durability have been proposed. These methods offer little insight into scratch mechanisms. More recently, single scratch methods have been proposed to probe clearcoat scratch mechanisms. This paper outlines a reliable and robust scratch methodology for evaluating scratch durability of automotive clear coatings. It is shown that, with appropriate characterization of tip geometry, quantitative and reproducible critical load values can be obtained. A suggested test method for scratch durability is described. Oak Ridge, TN. 401 Southfield Rd., A103L, Dearborn, MI 48121-6231.     

Survivable traffic grooming with path protection at the connection level in WDM mesh networks

Survivable traffic grooming (STG) is a promising approach to provide reliable and resource-efficient multigranularity connection services in wavelength-division-multiplexing (WDM) optical networks. In this paper, we study the STG problem in WDM mesh optical networks employing path protection at the connection level. Both dedicated-protection and shared-protection schemes are considered. Given network resources, the objective of the STG problem is to maximize network throughput. To enable survivability under various kinds of single failures, such as fiber cut and duct cut, we consider the general shared-risk-link-group (SRLG) diverse routing constraints. We first resort to the integer-linear-programming (ILP) approach to obtain optimal solutions. To address its high computational complexity, we then propose three efficient heuristics, namely separated survivable grooming algorithm (SSGA), integrated survivable grooming algorithm (ISGA), and tabu-search survivable grooming algorithm (TSGA). While SSGA and ISGA correspond to an overlay network model and a peer network model, respectively, TSGA further improves the grooming results from SSGA and ISGA by incorporating the effective tabu-search (TS) method. Numerical results show that the heuristics achieve comparable solutions to the ILP approach, which uses significantly longer running times than the heuristics.     

Vulcanization characteristics and mechanical properties of nitrile rubber filled with short leather fibres

Leather shavings have been used as filler in short fibre form for nitrile rubber reinforcement. Shavings neutralized with sodium bicarbonate and ammonia showed improved vulcanization characteristics and mechanical properties, whereas sodium hydroxide neutralized shavings exhibited poor properties. Swelling of the vulcanizates in water and 1% NaOH was found to increase with leather loading, whereas in MEK a reversed trend was observed. Thermogravimetric analysis indicates that the thermal stabilities of the vulcanizates fall between those of pure leather and gum nitrile rubber vulcanizate.