Macrophage Immunomodulation Through New Polymers that Recapitulate Functional Effects of Itaconate as a Power House of Innate Immunity

Itaconate (ITA) is an emerging powerhouse of innate immunity with therapeutic potential that is limited in its ability to be administered in a soluble form. A library of polyester materials that incorporate ITA into polymer backbones resulting in materials with inherent immunoregulatory behavior is developed. Harnessing hydrolytic degradation release from polyester backbones, ITA polymers result in the mechanism specific immunoregulatory properties on macrophage polarization in vitro. In a functional assay, the polymer-released ITA inhibits bacterial growth on acetate. Translation to an in vivo model of biomaterial associated inflammation, intraperitoneal injection of ITA polymers demonstrate a rapid resolution of inflammation in comparison to a control polymer silicone, demonstrating the value of sustained biomimetic presentation of ITA.     

Analysis of phosphorus removal and anaerobic selector performance in a full-scale activated sludge process in Singapore.

This paper analyses the performance of the anaerobic selector (A/O process) in a full-scale activated sludge process receiving mostly industrial sewage discharge (> 60%) in Singapore. In addition to the sludge settleability, enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) was studied. The sludge volume index (SVI) reduced from 200 to 80 ml g(-1) and foaming was suppressed significantly, indicating the effectiveness of the anaerobic selector in improving sludge settleability. The phosphorus removal efficiency was 66%, and 7.5 mg HAc-COD was consumed per mg PO4(3-) -P removed. In the anaerobic compartment, 31% of the SCOD and 73% of the acetic acid in the settled sewage were removed with PO4(3-) -P release of 14.1 mg PO4(3-)-P l(-1). The linear correlation between PO4(3-) -P release in the anaerobic compartment and PO4(3-) -P uptake in the aerobic compartment indicates that there is about 0.8 mg PO4(3-) -P release in the anaerobic compartment per mg PO34(3-) -P uptake in the aerobic compartment. The fates of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) and its short chain acids (SCAs) in the process were studied and discussed.     

New hybrid fuzzy controller for direct torque control induction motor drives

A new hybrid fuzzy controller for direct torque control (DTC) induction motor drives is presented in this paper. The newly developed hybrid fuzzy control law consists of proportional-integral (PI) control at steady state, PI-type fuzzy logic control at transient state, and a simple switching mechanism between steady and transient states, to achieve satisfied performance under steady and transient conditions. The features of the presented new hybrid fuzzy controller are highlighted by comparing the performance of various control approaches, including PI control, PI-type fuzzy logic control (FLC), proportional-derivative (PD) type FLC, and combination of PD-type FLC and I control, for DTC-based induction motor drives. The pros and cons of these controllers are demonstrated by intensive experimental results. It is shown that the presented induction motor drive is with fast tracking capability, less steady state error, and robust to load disturbance while not resorting to complicated control method or adaptive tuning mechanism. Experimental results derived from a test system are presented confirming the above-mentioned claims.     

Modeling node mobility for reliable packet delivery in mobile ip networks

In this paper, we analyze node mobility for reliable packet delivery in mobile IP networks. In mobile IP, packets destined to roaming nodes are intercepted by their home agents and delivered via tunneling to their care of addresses (CoA). A mobile node may roam across multiple subnets. At each boundary crossing, a handoff is initiated such that the CoA is updated and a new tunnel is established. We consider both basic mobile IP handoff and smooth handoff. We find that reliable packet delivery in mobile IP networks can be modeled as a renewal process, because the retransmission over a new tunnel after each boundary crossing is independent of the previous history. We then derive the probability distribution of boundary crossings for each successful packet, based on which the packet reliable delivery time can be obtained. Our analytical model is derived based on a general distribution of residence time in a subnet and a general distribution of successful retransmission attempts in each subnet. The results can be readily applied to any distributions for both items. We also provide numerical examples to calculate the probability distribution of boundary crossings, and conduct simulations to validate our analytical results     

RFA—300型自动分析仪检测总植物碱的改进

对连续流动法测定烟草及烟草制品中总植物碱的各影响因素进行了试验研究,并根据试验结果对仪器管路进行相应的改造。实验结果表明,烟草制品中总植物碱的连续流动法测定,改进后方法的回收收率高、重现性好。     

Reliability investigation of 0.07-/spl mu/m InGaAs-InAlAs-InP HEMT MMICs with pseudomorphic In/sub 0.75/Ga/sub 0.25/As channel

The authors have investigated the reliability performance of G-band (183 GHz) monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) amplifiers fabricated using 0.07-/spl mu/m T-gate InGaAs-InAlAs-InP HEMTs with pseudomorphic In/sub 0.75/Ga/sub 0.25/As channel on 3-in wafers. Life test was performed at two temperatures (T/sub 1/ = 200 /spl deg/C and T/sub 2/ = 215 /spl deg/C), and the amplifiers were stressed at V/sub ds/ of 1 V and I/sub ds/ of 250 mA/mm in a N/sub 2/ ambient. The activation energy is as high as 1.7 eV, achieving a projected median-time-to-failure (MTTF) /spl ap/ 2 /spl times/ 10/sup 6/ h at a junction temperature of 125 /spl deg/C. MTTF was determined by 2-temperature constant current stress using /spl Delta/G/sub mp/ = -20% as the failure criteria. The difference of reliability performance between 0.07-/spl mu/m InGaAs-InAlAs-InP HEMT MMICs with pseudomorphic In/sub 0.75/Ga/sub 0.25/As channel and 0.1-/spl mu/m InGaAs-InAlAs-InP HEMT MMICs with In/sub 0.6/Ga/sub 0.4/As channel is also discussed. The achieved high-reliability result demonstrates a robust 0.07-/spl mu/m pseudomorphic InGaAs-InAlAs-InP HEMT MMICs production technology for G-band applications.     

非关联双模场对Kerr介质中电子绝热跃迁转移现象的影响

本文研究了充满Kerr介质的高Q腔中非关联双模相干态场与级联三能级原子非共振相互作用情况下,电子的绝热跃迁转移现象与非关联场之间的关系。数值计算显示:级联三能级原子在与非关联双模相干态的相互作用下,该现象依然存在,但呈现不同于原子与关联场相互作用的新特征。     

Effect of Thickness of the p-AlGaN Electron Blocking Layer on the Improvement of ESD Characteristics in GaN-Based LEDs

The following letter presents a study regarding GaN-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with p-type AlGaN electron blocking layers (EBLs) of different thicknesses. The study revealed that the LEDs could endure higher electrostatic discharge (ESD) levels as the thickness of the AlGaN EBL increased. The observed improvement in the ESD endurance ability could be attributed to the fact that the thickened p-AlGaN EBL may partly fill the dislocation-related pits that occur on the surface of the InGaN-GaN multiple-quantum well (MQW) and that are due to the strain and the low-temperature-growth process. If these dislocation-related pits are not partly suppressed, they will eventually result in numerous surface pits associated with threading dislocations that intersect the InGaN-GaN (MQW), thereby reducing the ESD endurance ability. The results of the experiment show that the ESD endurance voltages could increase from 1500 to 6000 V when the thickness of the p-AlGaN EBL in the GaN LEDs is increased from 32.5 to 130 nm, while the forward voltages and light output powers remained almost the same.     

Verification of submodeling technique in thermomechanical reliability assessment of flip-chip package assembly

In this paper we verified the submodeling technique applied in the thermomechanical reliability assessment of a flip-chip BGA under accelerated thermal cycling test conditions. Since the steady-state creep model was implemented for the solder bump to better represent its realistic mechanical behavior, submodeling procedures developed specifically for path-dependent thermomechanical problems were considered. A detailed global model for the flip-chip BGA was built up to verify submodeling solutions. This model also served as a benchmark to examine solution discrepancies caused by different simplifications of the global model.     

Termites live in a material world: exploration of their ability to differentiate between food sources.

Drywood termites are able to assess wood size using vibratory signals, although the exact mechanism behind this assessment ability is not known. Important vibratory characteristics such as the modal frequencies of a wooden block depend on its geometry and boundary conditions; however, they are also dependent on the material characteristics of the block, such as mass, density and internal damping. We report here on choice experiments that tested the ability of the drywood termite Cryptotermes secundus to assess wooden block size using a solid wooden block paired with a composite block, the latter made of either wood and aluminium or wood and rubber. Each composite block was constructed to match mass or low-frequency vibratory modes (i.e. fundamental frequency) of the solid wooden block. The termites always chose the blocks with more wood; they moved to the solid wooden blocks usually within a day and then tunnelled further into the solid wooden block by the end of the experiment. Termites offered composite blocks of wood and rubber matched for mass were the slowest to show a preference for the solid wooden block and this preference was the least definitive of any treatment, which indicated that mass and/or damping may play a role in food assessment. This result clearly shows that the termites were not fooled by composite blocks matched for mass or frequency, which implies that they probably employ more than a single simple measure in their food assessment strategy. This implies a degree of sophistication in their ability to assess their environment hitherto unknown. The potential importance of alternative features in the vibrational signals is discussed.