Ahch, the mouse homologue of DAX1: cloning, characterization and synteny with GyK, the glycerol kinase locus

We cloned the murine full-length cDNA encoding Ahch, the mouse homologue of DAX1 (DSS-AHC Region on Human X Chromosome, Gene1) which is the gene responsible for human X-linked adrenal hypoplasia congenita (AHC) and hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (HH). Sequence analysis revealed that the murine and human cDNAs have 65% aa identity and 75% aa similarity overall. The cysteine residues in the putative DNA binding domain, which may interact with Zn2+ ions to form zinc fingers, are 100% conserved between the two species, indicating that the novel zinc-finger structures in DAX1 may be functional. In addition, mouse interspecific backcrosses show that the Ahch gene is closely linked to the glycerol kinase locus, GyK, on the mouse X chromosome, indicating that the order of the loci is conserved in this syntenic region between mouse and human.     

Creep deformation of induction pressure welded 2·25Cr-1Mo steel

In this paper, experimental results involving the effect of stress and temperature on creep behaviour of induction pressure welded (IPW) 2·25Cr-1Mo steel are presented. Creep rupture tests were conducted at 550–700°C in steps of 50°C over a stress range of 112·5–180 MPa. Above 650°C failure of the specimen was enhanced due to the microstructural instability. Failure in the specimens occurred invariably in the heat affected zones (HAZ), and the fracture surfaces indicated ductile failure.     

Truncated O-Glycan-Bearing MUC16 Enhances Pancreatic Cancer Cells Aggressiveness via α4β1 Integrin Complexes and FAK Signaling

Elevated levels of Mucin-16 (MUC16) in conjunction with a high expression of truncated O-glycans is implicated in playing crucial roles in the malignancy of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). However, the mechanisms by which such aberrant glycoforms present on MUC16 itself promote an increased disease burden in PDAC are yet to be elucidated. This study demonstrates that the CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genetic deletion of MUC16 in PDAC cells decreases tumor cell migration. We found that MUC16 enhances tumor malignancy by activating the integrin-linked kinase and focal adhesion kinase (ILK/FAK)-signaling axis. These findings are especially noteworthy in truncated O-glycan (Tn and STn antigen)-expressing PDAC cells. Activation of these oncogenic-signaling pathways resulted in part from interactions between MUC16 and integrin complexes (α4β1), which showed a stronger association with aberrant glycoforms of MUC16. Using a monoclonal antibody to functionally hinder MUC16 significantly reduced the migratory cascades in our model. Together, these findings suggest that truncated O-glycan containing MUC16 exacerbates malignancy in PDAC by activating FAK signaling through specific interactions with α4 and β1 integrin complexes on cancer cell membranes. Targeting these aberrant glycoforms of MUC16 can aid in the development of a novel platform to study and treat metastatic pancreatic cancer.     

Zwitterionic diaminodicyanoquinodimethanes with enhanced blue-green emission in the solid state

Diaminodicyanoquinodimethane molecules which show strong solid state emission in the blue-green region are developed. The new materials are structurally characterized; extended supramolecular assemblies mediated by H-bond interactions are observed in the crystal lattice. Spectroscopic studies including life-time and fluorescence quantum yield measurements in the solution and solid states are carried out. Emission in the solid state is ∼400 times stronger than that in solution; this can be attributed to the inhibition of the excited state geometry relaxation to a non-radiative state, in the solid. Impact of the molecular structure in the crystals on the solid state light emission is discussed. Semiempirical computational studies provide useful insight into the various structural and spectroscopic features of the new materials. The present observations serve as a pointer to further design strategies for realizing novel blue photoluminescent molecular materials based on the diaminodicyanoquinodimethane framework.     

Novel In0.52Al0.48As/In0.53Ga0.47As metamorphic high electron mobility transistors on GaAs substrate with InxGa1−xP graded buffer layers

Compositionally graded In_xGa_1−xP (x=0.48→x=1) metamorphic layers have been grown on GaAs substrate by solid source molecular beam epitaxy using a valved phosphorus cracker cell. Three series of samples were grown to optimize the growth temperature, V/III ratio and grading rate of the buffer layer. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and photoluminescence (PL) were used to characterize the samples. The following results have been obtained: (1) XRD measurement shows that all the samples are nearly fully strain relaxed and the strain relaxation ratio is about 96%; (2) the full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of the XRD peak shows that the sample grown at 480°C offers better material quality; (3) the grading rate does not influence the FWHM of XRD and PL results; (4) adjustment of the V/III ratio from 10 to 20 improves the FWHM of XRD peak, and the linewidth of PL peak is close to the data obtained for the lattice-matched sample on InP substrate. The optimization of growth conditions will benefit the metamorphic HEMTs grown on GaAs using graded InGaP as buffer layers.     

Adaptive Modeling of Analog/RF Circuits for Efficient Fault Response Evaluation

In this paper, we propose a methodology for adaptive modeling of analog/RF circuits. This modeling technique is specifically geared towards evaluating the response of a faulty circuit in terms of its specifications and/or measurements. The goal of this modeling approach is to compute important test metrics, such as fail probability, fault coverage, and/or yield coverage of a given measurement under process variations. Once the models for the faulty and fault-free circuit are generated, we can simply use Monte-Carlo sampling (as opposed to Monte-Carlo simulations) to compute these statistical parameters with high accuracy. We use the error budget that is defined in terms of computing the statistical metrics and the position of the threshold(s) to decide how precisely we need to extract the necessary models. Experiments on LNA and Mixer confirm that the proposed techniques can reduce the number of necessary simulations by factor of 7 respectively, in the computation of the fail probability.     

Temperature dependence of avalanche multiplication in InP-based HBTs with InGaAs/InP composite collector: device characterization and physics model

Recent efforts are being focused on improving the breakdown of InP-based heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) towards high-power applications. A fundamental understanding of the temperature dependence of breakdown and its physics mechanism in these devices is important. In this work, a detailed characterization of temperature-dependent collector breakdown behavior in InP DHBTs (DHBTs) with an InGaAs/InP composite collector is carried out. A physics model for the prediction of temperature-dependent breakdown in lnP/InGaAs composite collector is developed. We found that, although the variation of impact ionization coefficient due to the change of temperature may affect the device breakdown, the temperature-dependence of breakdown in the lnGaAs/InP composite collector could be significantly affected by the carrier transport in the InGaAs region. As temperature is increased, the increase in the contribution of InGaAs layer to the junction breakdown due to the reduction of electron energy relaxation length could be the root cause of the reduction of junction breakdown voltage. Good agreement between the physics model and experimental data demonstrate the validities of the proposed physics model to predict the temperature dependent breakdown characteristics for InP DHBTs.