Heterogeneity of subunit composition in lupin globulins. Comparison of proteins from a single seed and from a number of seeds

The subunit compositions of a legumin-like (globulin 8) and a vicilin-like protein (globulin 4) extracted from a plurality of seeds and from a single seed both in commercial and in a selected cultivar of Lupinus albus were studied. In the case of globulin 4, a very similar number of bands were observed in SDS-PAGE, in the protein extracted from a batch of seed and in the same globulin isolated from a single seed. For globulin 8 the SDS-PAGE pattern showed fewer subunits in the protein from the batch of seeds than in that from a single seed. This is more pronounced in the single seed and in the plurality of seeds of a selected cultivar. Reasons for this behaviour are discussed.     

热湿存储环境下须状晶体的生长机理与影响因素

纯哑锡表面的晶须特性已经成为IC封装中无铅焊接工艺实施的主要影响因素之一。由于其它替代方法,例如预先在引脚上镀Ni/Pd/Au层,会导致成本无法预估以及可靠性下降等问题,因此,目前的关注点是进一步减少纯锡表面须状晶体的生长。     

Analysis of the Effect of the I/Q Base-Band Filter Mismatch in an OFDM Modem

In digital communication modems in which a very high rate system clock is used, it is necessary to use analog base-band shaping filters in the inphase (I) and quadrature (Q) paths of the modulator. However, this type of implementation inherently produces a mismatch of the I and Q paths. In the present paper, results of the analysis of the transmitter (TX) I/Q mismatch in an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) system with Differential Coherent Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (DQPSK) modulation is presented. Theoretical analysis shows that the Signal-to-Noise (SNR) degradation due to the I/Q mismatch can be represented by a mismatch transfer function on the basis of which one can compute the maximum affordable amplitude and phase mismatch of the TX filters transfer functions.     

A Versatile Identification Method Applied to Analysis of Respiratory Mechanics

A method for the straightforward estimation of the param eters in lumped continuous linear models of respiratory mechanics is presented in this paper. First, a discrete-time model is obtained from the samples of input-output data and then transformed into a conuous-time model.     

Understanding and Predicting Data Hotspots in Cellular Networks

The unprecedented growth in mobile data usage is posing significant challenges to cellular operators. One key challenge is how to provide quality of service to subscribers when their residing cell is experiencing a significant amount of traffic, i.e. becoming a traffic hotspot. In this paper, we perform an empirical study on data hotspots in today’s cellular networks using a 9-week cellular dataset with 734K+ users and 5327 cell sites. Our analysis examines in details static and dynamic characteristics, predictability, and causes of data hotspots, and their correlation with call hotspots. We show that using standard machine learning methods, future hotspots can be accurately predicted from past observations. We believe the understanding of these key issues will lead to more efficient and responsive resource management and thus better QoS provision in cellular networks. To the best of our knowledge, our work is the first to empirically characterize traffic hotspots in today’s cellular networks.     

Reduced Impact of Induced Gate Noise on Inductively Degenerated LNAs in Deep Submicron CMOS Technologies

Designers of radio-frequency inductively-degenerated CMOS low-noise-amplifiers have usually not followed the guidelines for achieving minimum noise figure. Nonetheless, state-of-the-art implementations display noise figure values very close to the theoretical minimum. In this paper, we point out that this is due to the effect of the parasitic overlap capacitances in the MOS device. In particular, we show that overlap capacitances lead to a significant induced-gate-noise reduction, especially when deep sub-micron CMOS processes are used.Paolo Rossi was born in Milan, Italy, in 1975. He received the Laurea degree (summa cum laude) in electrical engineering from the University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy, in 2000, where he is currently working toward the Ph.D. degree. His research interests are in the field of analog integrated circuits for wireless transceivers in CMOS and BiCMOS technology, with particular focus on the analysis and design of LNA and mixer for multi-standard applications.Francesco Svelto received the Laurea and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy, in 1991 and 1995, respectively. From 1996 to 1997, he held a grant from STMicroelectronics to design CMOS RF circuits. In 1997, he was appointed Assistant Professor at the University of Bergamo, Italy, and in 2000, he joined the University of Pavia, where he is an Associate Professor. His current research interests are in the field of RF design and high-frequency integrated circuits for telecommunications. Dr. Svelto has been a member of the technical program committee of the IEEE Custom Integrated Circuits Conference since 2000 and the Bipolar/BiCMOS Circuits and Technology Meeting (BCTM) since 2003, and the European Solid State Circuits Conference in 2002. He served as Guest Editor of the March 2003 special issue of the IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, of which he is currently an Associate Editor.Andrea Mazzanti was born in Modena (Italy) in 1976. He received the Laurea degree (summa cum Laude) in Electrical Engineering from the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy in 2001. Since 2001 he is pursuing his PhD in Electrical Engineering at University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy. His major research interest are modelling of microwave semiconductor devices and design of CMOS RF integrated circuits, with particular focus on low noise oscillators and analog frequency dividers. During the summer of 2003 he was with Agere Systems, Allentown, PA as an internship student, working on the design of an highly integrated CMOS FM transmitter.Pietro Andreani received the M.S.E.E. from the University of Pisa, Italy, in 1988. He joined the Dept. of Applied Electronics, Lund University, Sweden, in 1990, where he contributed to the development of software tools for digital ASIC design. After working at the Dept. of Applied Electronics, University of Pisa, as a CMOS IC designer during 1994, he rejoined the Dept. of Applied Electronics in Lund as an Associate Professor, where he was responsible for the analog IC course package between 1995 and 2001, and where he received the Ph.D. degree in 1999. He is currently a Professor at the Center for Physical Electronics, ØrstedDTU, Technical University of Denmark, Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark, with analog/RF CMOS IC design as main research field.     

Transmission power requirements for novel ZigBee implants in the gastrointestinal tract

In this paper, a novel multinode wireless monitoring platform, based on ZigBee communication standard, is presented and tested in vivo. The transmission power levels needed to establish a reliable connection from the different gastrointestinal districts are reported and compared with safety levels from international guidelines. These findings can be useful to evaluate the effectiveness of a commercial and standardized approach to implantable and miniaturized monitoring of physiological parameters.     

A thermal monitoring sheet with low influence from adjacent waterbolus for tissue surface thermometry during clinical hyperthermia

This paper presents a complete thermal analysis of a novel conformal surface thermometer design with directional sensitivity for real-time temperature monitoring during hyperthermia treatments of large superficial cancer. The thermal monitoring sheet (TMS) discussed in this paper consists of a 2-D array of fiberoptic sensors embedded between two layers of flexible, low-loss, and thermally conductive printed circuit board (PCB) film. Heat transfer across all interfaces from the tissue surface through multiple layers of insulating dielectrics surrounding the small buried temperature sensor and into an adjacent temperature-regulated water coupling bolus was studied using 3-D thermal simulation software. Theoretical analyses were carried out to identify the most effective differential TMS probe configuration possible with commercially available flexible PCB materials and to compare their thermal responses with omnidirectional probes commonly used in clinical hyperthermia. A TMS sensor design that employs 0.0508-mm Kapton MTB and 0.2032-mm Kapton HN flexible polyimide films is proposed for tissue surface thermometry with low influence from the adjacent waterbolus. Comparison of the thermal simulations with clinical probes indicates the new differential TMS probe design to outperform in terms of both transient response and steady-state accuracy in selectively reading the tissue surface temperature, while decreasing the overall thermal barrier of the probe between the coupling waterbolus and tissue surface.      

Fabrication of a Macroporous Microwell Array for Surface‐Enhanced Raman Scattering

Here, a colloidal templating procedure for generating high‐density arrays of gold macroporous microwells, which act as discrete sites for surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), is reported. Development of such a novel array with discrete macroporous sites requires multiple fabrication steps. First, selective wet‐chemical etching of the distal face of a coherent optical fiber bundle produces a microwell array. The microwells are then selectively filled with a macroporous structure by electroless template synthesis using self‐assembled nanospheres. The fabricated arrays are structured at both the micrometer and nanometer scale on etched imaging bundles. Confocal Raman microscopy is used to detect a benzenethiol monolayer adsorbed on the macroporous gold and to map the spatial distribution of the SERS signal. The Raman enhancement factor of the modified wells is investigated and an average enhancement factor of 4 × 10⁴ is measured. This demonstrates that such nanostructured wells can enhance the local electromagnetic field and lead to a platform of ordered SERS‐active micrometer‐sized spots defined by the initial shape of the etched optical fibers. Since the fabrication steps keep the initial architecture of the optical fiber bundle, such ordered SERS‐active platforms fabricated onto an imaging waveguide open new applications in remote SERS imaging, plasmonic devices, and integrated electro‐optical sensor arrays.