Bouncing a ball: Tuning into dynamic stability.

Rhythmically bouncing a ball with a racket was investigated and modeled with a nonlinear map. Model analyses provided a variable defining a dynamically stable solution that obviates computationally expensive corrections. Three experiments evaluated whether dynamic stability is optimized and what perceptual support is necessary for stable behavior. Two hypotheses were tested: (a) Performance is stable if racket acceleration is negative at impact, and (b) variability is lowest at an impact acceleration between -4 and -1 m/s2. In Experiment 1 participants performed the task, eyes open or closed, bouncing a ball confined to a 1-dimensional trajectory. Experiment 2 eliminated constraints on racket and ball trajectory. Experiment 3 excluded visual or haptic information. Movements were performed with negative racket accelerations in the range of highest stability. Performance with eyes closed was more variable, leaving acceleration unaffected. With haptic information, performance was more stable than with visual information alone. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Method for the analysis of the methylphosphonic acid metabolites of sarin and its ethanol-substituted analogue in urine as applied to the victims of the Tokyo sarin disaster

The present study was designed to evaluate the role of the cytokeratin-19 fragment (CYFRA 21-1) as a tumor marker in bladder cancer. The bladder cancer cell line JMSU1 was used in the preclinical study. Subjects comprised 120 healthy volunteers, 20 patients with benign bladder diseases including acute cystitis and bladder stones, 12 patients with chronic renal failure, and 117 patients with histologically confirmed primary bladder cancer. CYFRA 21-1 concentrations were measured by a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The preclinical study in vitro and in vivo showed that JMSU1 produced and released CYFRA 21-1 in the culture supernants and serum of JMSU1-bearing nude mice. The cutoff level was set at 3.5 ng/ml (mean + 3 SD) by the analysis in the healthy volunteers. Under this condition, sensitivity was 0% in benign bladder diseases, 83% in chronic renal failure, and 41.9% in bladder cancer. Serum CYFRA 21-1 levels increased significantly as tumor stage advanced or tumor grade increased. A serial follow-up study demonstrated that patients with progressive showed a gradual increase in serum CYFRA 21-1 levels while patients who responded to the treatments had a marked decrease in serum CYFRA 21-1 levels. Higher serum CYFRA 21-1 levels were related to poor survival. The present study suggest that serum CYFRA 21-1 is a useful marker to monitor the clinical course of bladder cancer and to provide prognostic information.     

Analysis on high-frequency characteristics of SOI lateral BJTs withself-aligned external base for 2-GHz RF applications

High-frequency characteristics of SOI lateral BJTs designed for 2-GHz radio frequency (RF) applications are measured and compared for various link-base length, emitter width, and collector structure. Based on experimental data and device simulation, degradation mechanism of cutoff frequency for shorter link-base is analyzed. By suppressing external base-induced effects, peak cutoff frequency is increased from 10 GHz to 15 GHz     

Structural analysis of red blood cell membrane with an atomic force microscope

To evaluate the usefulness of the atomic force microscope (AFM) for structural analysis of biomedical samples and to determine suitable sample preparation methods for AFM observation, the membrane of human erythrocytes prepared by various methods for electron microscopy was examined by the AFM. Strand-like elevations with 20-50 nm in width, 30-80 nm in length and 3-5 nm in height were observed, which formed networks composed of squares, pentagons and hexagons on the cytoplasmic or back surface of the erythrocyte membrane. Using colloidal gold labelled antibody, this network was found to contain spectrin molecules. Therefore it was very likely that the undercoat molecules of the plasma membrane were imaged by AFM. A large number of gentle elevations 300-400 nm in diameter and 2 nm in height were found to be distributed uniformly on the extracellular or true surface of intact erythrocyte, presumably reflecting the presence of undercoat membrane skeleton on the cytoplasmic surface. However, no structure that seemed to be derived from glycocalyces was discernible on the true surface. Structure corresponding to the unit membrane or lipid bilayer structure observable by electron microscopy was not demonstrated in the cross-section of the membrane. In freeze-fractured samples, a large number of small particles that corresponded to the intramembranous particle were also demonstrated on the membrane halves. Since AFM allows depiction of the fine structures of biological samples with very simple sample processing at a resolution comparable to or exceeding that of SEM, imaging technology using AFM can be applied to obtain biomedical information. However, several problems have to be solved in future development of the equipment.     

Threshold voltage roll-up/roll-off characteristic control insub-0.2-μm single workfunction gate CMOS for high-performance DRAMapplications

Threshold voltage (V_t) roll-off/roll-up control is a key issue to achieve high-performance sub-0.2-μm single workfunction gate CMOS devices for high-speed DRAM applications. It is experimentally confirmed that a combination of well RTA and N₂ implant prior to gate oxidation is important to reduce V_t roll-up characteristics both in nFET and pFET. Optimization of RTA conditions after source/drain (S/D) implant is also discussed as a means of improving V_t roll-off characteristics. Finally, the impact of halo implant on V_t variation in sub-0.2-μm buried channel pFETs is discussed. It is found that halo profile control is necessary for tight V_t variation in sub-0.2-μm single workfunction gate pFET     

An 0.3-μm Si epitaxial base BiCMOS technology with 37-GHzfmax and 10-V BVceo for RF telecommunication

In this paper, a 0.3-μm BiCMOS technology for mixed analog/digital application is presented. A typical emitter area of this technology is 0.3 μm×1.0 μm. This technology includes high f _max of 37 GHz at the low collector current of 300 μA and high BV_ceo of 10 V NPN transistor, CMOS with L_eff=0.3 μm, and passive elements. By using the shallow and deep trench isolation technology and nonselective epitaxial intrinsic base, the C_jc can be reduced to 1.6 fF, which is the lowest value reported so far. As a results, we have managed to obtain the high f_max at the low current region and high BV _ceo concurrently. These features will contribute to the development of high-performance BiCMOS LSI's for various mixed analog/digital applications     

连铸工艺中弯月面控制的发展

在生产效率和板坯质量方面,连铸工艺中的弯月面控制总是十分重要的.为了掌握弯月面控制的发展方面,本文首先概括介绍早期针对生产效率而采用的弯月面控制技术,进而介绍当前为了提高板坯质量而采用的顶部凹槽的弯月面控制技术.80年代,两项关于生产效率的弯月面控制技术发展起来.一项是结晶器状况监测系统,另一项是高速结晶器调宽技术.至于板坯质量方面,最近我们发展了在结晶器周围加上低频交流电磁场的电磁连铸技术(EMC),并且开展了中间实验和连铸生产规模的应用研究.关于EMC技术在弯月面控制的三方面作用得到证实,即结晶器和凝固坯壳之间的软接触,垂直搅拌,焦耳热使初始凝固阶段能适度冷却.     

Electronic structure analysis of magnetic properties of Fe16N2

Summary The magnetic properties of Fe₁₆N₂, bcc iron and bct iron were studied using the linear muffin tin orbital method in combination with the atomic sphere approximation (LMTO-ASA). The following results were obtained: The magnetovolume effect is the most important for the large magnetic moment of Fe₁₆N₂. The magnetic moment of iron increases with the distance from the nitrogen. The nitrogen atom plays a role in expanding the lattice. The effect of local lattice relaxation of the iron atoms that are first- and second-nearest neighbors to a nitrogen atom was examined.