Detection of melanoma by monitoring the intracellular fluorescein fluorescence polarization changes in lymphocytes

The effectiveness of detecting melanoma by measuring the intracellular fluorescein fluorescent polarization (IFFP) of patients' SCM (structuredness of the cytoplasmic matrix)-responding lymphocytes was examined. SCM-responding lymphocytes from 46 melanoma patients and 32 healthy volunteers were labeled with fluorescein diacetate and challenged with different stimuli, and the resulting polarization was determined. The polarizations (P) obtained upon stimulation with nothing (P-0), encephalitogenic factor (P-EF), phytohaemagglutinin (P-PHA), or melanoma antigen (P-MEL), and the ratios RR(ef) (P-EF/P-PHA) and RR(mel) (P-MEL/P-PHA) were lower for SCM-responding lymphocytes from the patients as a group than for those of the controls. The specificity and sensitivity of the IFFP tests (using cutoff values) to detect melanoma were 90.6 and 73.9%, respectively. The IFFP tests may facilitate the discrimination between melanoma patients and healthy subjects, and may be used in follow-up of patients with melanoma.     

High performance analog VLSI computational circuits

Simple linear voltage/current-controlled voltage-to-current (V-T) converters, which are to first-order insensitive to the threshold voltage variation, are introduced. The circuits can be used as basic building blocks to construct simple analog computational circuits, which can perform functions such as square rooting, squaring, multiplication, sum of squares, difference of squares, etc. Some of the key features are: good linearity, floating inputs [high common-mode rejection ratio (CMRR)], simplicity, and good transconductance tuning range. The circuits can be realized with CMOS devices in saturation, however, BiCMOS devices extend their speed and input voltage range. Realistic simulations and experimental results clearly demonstrate the claims     

Stochastic complexity measures for physiological signal analysis

Traditional feature extraction methods describe signals in terms of amplitude and frequency. This paper takes a paradigm shift and investigates four stochastic-complexity features. Their advantages are demonstrated on synthetic and physiological signals; the latter recorded during periods of Cheyne-Stokes respiration, anesthesia, sleep, and motor-cortex investigation     

Long-wavelength 640×486 GaAs-AlGaAs quantum well infraredphotodetector snap-shot camera

A 9-μm cutoff 640×486 snap-shot quantum well infrared photodetector (QWIP) camera has been demonstrated. The performance of this QWIP camera is reported including indoor and outdoor imaging. The noise equivalent differential temperature (NEΔT) of 36 mK has been achieved at 300 K background with f/2 optics. This is in good agreement with expected focal plane array sensitivity due to the practical limitations on charge handling capacity of the multiplexer, read noise, bias voltage, and operating temperature     

Transgenic overproduction of islet amyloid polypeptide (amylin) is not sufficient for islet amyloid formation

Islet amyloid polypeptide forms islet amyloid deposits in non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. We have generated transgenic mice which express human islet amyloid polypeptide in their pancreatic beta cells yet do not develop islet amyloid deposits despite producing levels of the amyloidogenic human peptide 2 - 3 fold higher than the native (mouse) peptide. To determine whether marked overproduction of islet amyloid polypeptide is a potential cause of islet amyloid formation, we increased expression of this transgene by producing homozygous transgenic animals and by making heterozygous mice experimentally insulin resistant with nicotinic acid. Pancreatic content of islet amyloid polypeptide-like immunoreactivity in homozygous and nicotinic acid-treated mice was 2-fold (25 +/- 7 fmol/microg; n = 6) and 3.5-fold (47 +/- 20 fmol/microg; n = 3) higher, respectively, than that of untreated heterozygous animals (13+/-2 fmol/microg; n = 11; both p < 0.05). Despite this marked increase in production of islet amyloid polypeptide, neither group of mice developed gross islet amyloid deposits even after 16 months of age. We conclude that overproduction of islet amyloid polypeptide, even as produced by extreme insulin resistance, is not in itself sufficient for islet amyloid formation.     

The role of examples and rules in the acquisition of a cognitive skill

In 3 experiments, participants memorized 8 examples, each exemplifying a different rule. Participants were asked to extend these rules to new examples. They practiced applications of the rules to examples over a period of 4 days (Experiment 1) or 5 days (Experiments 2 and 3). Although these rules were bidirectional, an asymmetry gradually built up such that participants became more facile in using the rules in the practiced direction. Participants also showed an advantage when the initial study example was repeated or when test examples were repeated. It is argued that skill acquisition involves development of a complex set of strategies based on use of rules and retrieval of examples. Four overlapping stages of skill acquisition are described.     

Method for error recovery of line spectral frequencies

The authors have exploited the ideas used in vector quantisation for error recovery of scalar quantised LSFs. The good performance of this method has provided high resistance of the LSFs to channel errors, outperforming other schemes by, possibly, a considerable margin. Better objective and subjective performances were obtained with this new method which obviates the need for more powerful FEC schemes for transmission over noisy channels.<>     

New fault locating system for air-insulated substations usingoptical current detector

The authors present the basic philosophy, construction, design features, and test results of a new fault locating system. This fault locating system helps to shorten the time required for restoration of service after the occurrence of a busbar fault in an air-insulated distribution substation. Recent optical and electronic technologies allow the design of a highly accurate and compact fault locating system which consists of optical current detectors using the Faraday effect and a fault locating processor using a digital data processing technique. The fault location is carried out by discriminating between the directions of zero-sequence currents. Through various tests and field operations, it has been confirmed that the system has sufficient performance for practical applications     

Fault section detection system for 66 kV underground branchtransmission lines using optical magnetic field sensors

A fault section detection system that uses optical magnetic field sensors and instantly detects the section in which a ground fault occurred was developed for 66 kV underground multiterminal systems having Y-branch joint boxes. The optical magnetic field sensor, which is based on the Faraday effect in Bi-doped YIG ((BiYbGd)₃Fe₅O₁₂) having a large Verdet constant, detects cable conductor currents of 0 to 2000 A with high precision with the use of a laminated magnetic ring core of silicon steel plates. Sensors and a fault section detector/indicator of a system are connected with optical fibers capable of nonrepeated transmission of over 6 km