Simultaneous measurement of magnetization and magnetostriction in 50 T pulsed high magnetic fields

To simultaneously perform magnetization and magnetostriction measurements in high magnetic fields, a miniaturized device was developed that combines an inductive magnetometer with a capacitive dilatometer and, therefore, it is called "dilamagmeter." This combination of magnetic and magnetoelastic investigations is a new step to a complex understanding of solid state properties. The whole system can be mounted in a 12 mm clear bore of any cryostat usually used in nondestructive pulsed high field magnets. The sensitivity of both methods is about 10(-5) A m(2) for magnetization and 10(-5) relative changes in length for striction measurements. Measurements on a GdSi single crystal, which are corrected by the background signal of the experimental setup, agree well with the results of steady field experiments. All test measurements, which are up until now performed in the temperature range of 4-100 K, confirm the perfect usability and high stability in pulsed fields up to 50 T with a pulse duration of 10 ms.     

Roundings Respecting Hard Constraints

A problem arising in integer linear programming is transforming a solution of a linear system to an integer one that is "close." The customary model for investigating such problems is, given a matrix A and a [0,1]-valued vector x, finding a binary vector y such that ||A(x - y)||_∞, the maximum violation of the constraints, is small. Randomized rounding and the algorithm of Beck and Fiala are ways to compute such solutions y, whereas linear discrepancy is a lower bound measure. In many applications one is looking for roundings that, in addition to being close to the original solution, satisfy some constraints without violation. The objective of this paper is to investigate such problems in a unified way. To this aim, we extend the notion of linear discrepancy to include such hard cardinality constraints. We extend the algorithm of Beck and Fiala to cope with this setting. If the constraints contain disjoint sets of variables, the rounding error increases by only a factor of two. We also show how to generate and derandomize randomized roundings respecting disjoint cardinality constraints. However, we also provide some examples showing that additional hard constraints may seriously increase the linear discrepancy. In particular, we show that the c-color linear discrepancy of a totally unimodular matrix can be as high as Ω(log c).     

Interface agents as social models for female students: The effects of agent visual presence and appearance on female students’ attitudes and beliefs

The current work investigates the use of interface agents as anthropomorphic social models to influence young women’s negative beliefs and low self-efficacy regarding engineering. Experiment 1 focused on the impact of agent model visual presence vs. voice alone for changing the women’s beliefs. Based on literature on human social models we hypothesized that the visual presence of the interface agent would result in more positive attitudes toward engineering and greater self-efficacy than the presence of a human voice alone. Experiment 2 focused on the impact of model appearance-related characteristics for changing the women’s beliefs. Previous work with human social models suggests that people are more persuaded by models that are similar to them. Therefore, models that were young, female, and “cool” were predicted to be more effective in influencing young women’s attitudes. In accordance with our hypothesis, results revealed that participants who interacted with the visible agents reported significantly greater utility for engineering, greater self-efficacy, and greater interest in engineering-related fields than those who interacted with a human voice. In addition, the agent models that were similar to the young women tended to be the most effective for positively influencing the women’s stereotypes and self-efficacy.     

Quantitative investigation of particle formation of a model pharmaceutical formulation using single droplet evaporation experiments and X-ray tomography

The implementation of a particle design platform that can be applied to novel pharmaceutical systems using acoustic levitation (SAL) and X-ray tomography (XRT) is discussed. Acoustic levitation was employed to provide a container-less particle design environment for single droplet evaporation experiments. Dried particles were subject to further visual and quantitative structural analysis using X-ray tomography to assess the three-dimensional volume space. The workflow of the combined SAL-XRT platform has been applied to investigate the impact of increasing HPMC K100LV concentrations on the evaporation, drying and final particle morphology of particles from a model pharmaceutical formulation containing metformin and D-mannitol. The morphology and internal structure of the formulated particles after drying are dominated by a crystalline core of D-mannitol partially suppressed with increasing HPMC K100LV additions. The final structure can be correlated to the observed evaporation kinetics. The characterisation of formulated metformin hydrochloride particles with increasing polymer content demonstrated the importance of an early-stage quantitative assessment of formulation-related particle properties. The ability to study the evolution of solid phase formation and its influence on the final particle morphology can enable the selection of formulation and process parameter that deliver the desired particle structure and consequent performance by design.     

Applying informed coding and embedding to design a robust high-capacity watermark

We describe a new watermarking system based on the principles of informed coding and informed embedding. This system is capable of embedding 1380 bits of information in images with dimensions 240 x 368 pixels. Experiments on 2000 images indicate the watermarks are robust to significant valumetric distortions, including additive noise, low-pass filtering, changes in contrast, and lossy compression. Our system encodes watermark messages with a modified trellis code in which a given message may be represented by a variety of different signals, with the embedded signal selected according to the cover image. The signal is embedded by an iterative method that seeks to ensure the message will not be confused with other messages, even after addition of noise. Fidelity is improved by the incorporation of perceptual shaping into the embedding process. We show that each of these three components improves performance substantially.     

Terabit Transmission at 42.7-Gb/s on 50-GHz Grid Using Hybrid RZ-DQPSK and NRZ-DBPSK Formats Over 16 × 80 km SSMF Spans and 4 Bandwidth-Managed ROADMs

We demonstrate for the first time the use of asymmetric-bandwidth interleaver-based reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexer (ROADM) to transmit 42.7-Gb/s channels on a 50-GHz grid. Differential binary phase shift keyed (DBPSK) format was used on the wide passband side and differential quadrature phase shift keyed (DQPSK) format was used on the narrow passband side of the ROADM. 25 channels with an aggregate capacity of 1-Tb/s were transported over 1280-km of standard single-mode fiber (SSMF) including 4 ROADMs.     

Five-step protocol for carotid endarterectomy in the managed health care era

-This study was designed to investigate distribution and regulation of the renal AT1A and AT2 subtype receptors in rats with either systemic angiotensin II (Ang II)-induced hypertension or acute phase renal hypertension (2-kidney, 1-clip [2K1C] or 2-kidney, 1-figure-of-8-wrap [2K1W]). In normal rat kidneys, positive immunostaining for the AT1A receptor was observed in the intrarenal vasculature, glomeruli, proximal and distal tubules, and collecting ducts. The AT2 receptor was localized mainly to the glomeruli. The AT1A but not AT2 receptor protein expression was significantly reduced in rats with 10-day systemic Ang II-induced hypertension. In both 7-day 2K1C and 3-day 2K1W rats, the AT1A receptor was significantly reduced in ischemic and contralateral kidneys compared with sham-operated control rats. Reduction in AT2 receptor expression was observed only in the ischemic kidneys in 2K1C and 2K1W renal hypertensive rats. These results demonstrate that the AT1A receptor is widely distributed in the glomerulus and all other nephron segments of the rat kidney. Renal AT1A but not AT2 receptor protein is downregulated in rats with Ang II-induced hypertension. In renal hypertensive rats, the AT1A receptor is bilaterally downregulated and the AT2 receptor is downregulated only in the ischemic kidney.     

Soliton fiber ring laser stabilization and tuning with a broadintracavity filter

The periodic perturbations to the soliton in passively mode-locked fiber soliton lasers cause dispersive wave shedding, which lead to sharp spectral sidebands that limit pulse duration. By using a broad intracavity birefringent plate filter, the side-bands are greatly reduced, and the pulse duration is shortened. The filter also allows wavelength tuning, and a 43 nm continuous tuning range is demonstrated for pulses of 311-357 is duration in a fully self-starting diode pumped system     

In-house development of scheduling decision support systems: case study for scheduling semiconductor device test operations

Most manufacturing processes can benefit from an automated scheduling system. However, the design of a fast, computerised scheduling system that achieves high-quality results and requires minimal resources is a difficult undertaking. Efficient scheduling of a semiconductor device test facility requires an information system that provides good schedules quickly. Semiconductor device testing is the last stage of the long semiconductor manufacturing process, and therefore is subjected to customer service pressures. The cost of an off-the-shelf computerised scheduling system may be prohibitive for many companies. In addition, many companies are taken aback by other characteristics of off-the-shelf scheduling systems, such as code confidentiality, maintenance costs, and failure rates. We draw upon the literature and our field case to discuss some of the trade-offs between in-house development and off-the-shelf acquisition of software. We describe the in-house design and implementation of a scheduling decision support system for one device test facility. Using the design and implementation process of this system as a case study, we discuss how one facility uses in-house design of systems in a strategic way, as a competitive capability.     

Azidothymidine resistance of H9 human T-cell lymphoma cells is associated with decreased sensitivity to antitumor agents and inhibition of apoptosis

Biology of HIV-1 associated neoplasias is modulated by viral and host factors. In addition the development of tumors and their response to therapy may be further influenced by long-term treatment of HIV-1 patients with nucleoside analogs such as AZT (3'-azido-3'deoxythymidine), ddI (2',3'-dideoxyinosine), ddC (2',3'-dideoxycytidine), d4T (2',3'-didehydro-2'3'-dideoxythymidine), and 3TC [(-)-beta-L-2',3'-dideoxy-3'-thiacytidine] alone or in combination. As these compounds can trigger mechanisms involved in chemoresistance, we tested whether prolonged in vitro treatment of H9 cells (T-cell lymphoma) with AZT alters sensitivity of lymphoma cells to antitumor agents used for AIDS-associated malignancies. H9 cells grown for more than two years in medium containing 250 microM AZT developed resistance to the toxic effects of AZT while retaining sensitivity for other nucleoside analogs including ddC or cytosine arabinoside (ARA-C). These cells designated H9rAZT250 were 2 to 10-fold less sensitive to the toxic effects of antitumor agents, including cisplatin (CDDP), vincristine (VCR), doxorubicin (DOX) and etoposide (VP-16), when compared with parental H9 cells. The resistance of H9rAZT250 cells to antitumor agents was associated with inhibition of apoptosis as demonstrated by ultrastructural investigations and DNA-fragmentation assay (ELISA). The expression of the antiapoptotic gene bcl-2 was increased in H9rAZT250 cells while expression of other genes involved in the regulation of apoptosis such as c-myc, p53 and Fas was not changed. These results demonstrate that prolonged in vitro treatment of H9 lymphoma cells with AZT results in the development of resistance to antitumor agents in association with inhibition of apoptosis and increased expression of bcl-2. Therefore AZT long-term treatment of some HIV-1 patients with malignancies may have affected behavior of tumor cells including response to therapy.