A 9-ns HIT-delay 32-kbyte cache macro for high-speed RISC

A 32-kB cache macro with an experimental reduced instruction set computer (RISC) is realized. A pipelined cache access to realize a cycle time shorter than the cache access time is proposed. A double-word-line architecture combines single-port cells, dual-port cells, and CAM cells into a memory array to improve silicon area efficiency. The cache macro exhibits 9-ns typical clock-to-HIT delay as a result of several circuit techniques, such as a section word-line selector, a dual transfer gate, and 1.0-μm CMOS technology. It supports multitask operation with logical addressing by a selective clear circuit. The RISC includes a double-word load/store instruction using a 64-b bus to fully utilize the on-chip cache macro. A test scheme allows measurement of the internal signal delay. The test device design is based on the unified design rules scalable through multigenerations of process technologies down to 0.8 μm     

The influence of surgical stress on T cells: enhancement of early phase lymphocyte activation

For the control of postoperative infection, it may be important to understand the possible influences of surgical stress on the host immune system. To this end, we examined how the early phase of lymphocyte activation was affected in patients after major surgery (eight patients with esophageal carcinoma and six undergoing cardiac surgery) using a flow cytometric assay based on expression of the early activation antigen, CD69. Freshly isolated T cell in preoperative and postoperative samples did not express CD69. When peripheral blood mononuclear cells were stimulated in vitro, the expression of CD69 was greatly enhanced in both CD4 and CD8 T cells, compared with the preoperative samples. The proportion of de novo CD69-expressing cells in the CD4 subset was approximately 3 times (Postoperative Day 1) and 4 times (Postoperative Days 2, 3, 5, and 7) greater than those preoperatively, whereas the proportion of de novo CD69-expressing cells in the CD8 subset was approximately 1.5 times (Postoperative Days 2 and 5) and 2 times (Postoperative Day 3) greater than those preoperatively. The proportion of CD69+ cells was significantly greater in the CD4+ subset than in the CD8+ subset during the postoperative period. IMPLICATIONS: Our results show that major surgical stress enhances the early phase of lymphocyte activation. The augmentation of activation was greater in CD4 (helper) T cells than in CD8 (cytotoxic) T cells.     

Path generation by rate control of manipulators

This paper proposes a real-time control algorithm, in which both the actual errors of position and of orientation are fed back to the control value calculated for each sampling time. This paper also defines the distance between two orientations, and presents a set of formulas for orientational error using quaternions. An algorithm using screw algebra is developed for the real-time computation of joint velocities. Finally, the accuracy of trajectory control using this algorithm is studied experimentally.     

Compact electron beam ion trap for spectroscopy of moderate charge state ions

A compact electron beam ion trap (EBIT) has been constructed for spectroscopic studies of moderate charge state ions. The electron beam energy range of the present EBIT is 100-1000 eV, for which it is rather difficult to operate an ordinary EBIT which used to be designed for operation with higher electron energy (~10 keV or more). To cut down the running costs, a superconducting wire with a high critical temperature is used for the central magnet so that it can be operated without liquid helium. The performance of the compact EBIT has been investigated through visible spectroscopy of highly charged krypton and iron ions.     

Cs-Te photocathode RF electron gun for applied research at the Waseda University

A compact electron accelerator based on photo-cathode RF electron gun is under development for applied research at the Waseda University. Higher charge and higher energy are key issues for applications such as pulse radiolysis experiment and laser-Compton X-ray generation. The new RF-gun cavity with cesium telluride (Cs-Te) photo-cathode which has higher quantum efficiency (Q.E.) compared with metal cathodes has been installed. The evaluation of Q.E. of the photo-cathode has been performed and the value obtained is more than 5% at the preparation stage. For understanding the Cs-Te cathode properties and the higher Q.E. operation, fundamental studies by single bunch beam operation have been performed resulting in more than 6 nC bunch charge with a high Q.E. of 2.9%. Additionally, the new RF-gun cavity was improved for obtaining a higher Q value. Higher beam energy, i.e. shunt impedance compared with old type cavity, was observed. The shunt impedance increased by about 20%. These successful results will considerably contribute to the applied research.     

Hypoxic Culture Maintains Cell Growth of the Primary Human Valve Interstitial Cells with Stemness

The characterization of aortic valve interstitial cells (VICs) cultured under optimal conditions is essential for understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying aortic valve stenosis. Here, we propose 2% hypoxia as an optimum VIC culture condition. Leaflets harvested from patients with aortic valve regurgitation were digested using collagenase and VICs were cultured under the 2% hypoxic condition. A significant increase in VIC growth was observed in 2% hypoxia (hypo-VICs), compared to normoxia (normo-VICs). RNA-sequencing revealed that downregulation of oxidative stress-marker genes (such as superoxide dismutase) and upregulation of cell cycle accelerators (such as cyclins) occurred in hypo-VICs. Accumulation of reactive oxygen species was observed in normo-VICs, indicating that low oxygen tension can avoid oxidative stress with cell-cycle arrest. Further mRNA quantifications revealed significant upregulation of several mesenchymal and hematopoietic progenitor markers, including CD34, in hypo-VICs. The stemness of hypo-VICs was confirmed using osteoblast differentiation assays, indicating that hypoxic culture is beneficial for maintaining growth and stemness, as well as for avoiding senescence via oxidative stress. The availability of hypoxic culture was also demonstrated in the molecular screening using proteomics. Therefore, hypoxic culture can be helpful for the identification of therapeutic targets and the evaluation of VIC molecular functions in vitro.     

Requirement of atypical protein kinase clambda for insulin stimulation of glucose uptake but not for Akt activation in 3T3-L1 adipocytes

Phosphoinositide (PI) 3-kinase contributes to a wide variety of biological actions, including insulin stimulation of glucose transport in adipocytes. Both Akt (protein kinase B), a serine-threonine kinase with a pleckstrin homology domain, and atypical isoforms of protein kinase C (PKCzeta and PKClambda) have been implicated as downstream effectors of PI 3-kinase. Endogenous or transfected PKClambda in 3T3-L1 adipocytes or CHO cells has now been shown to be activated by insulin in a manner sensitive to inhibitors of PI 3-kinase (wortmannin and a dominant negative mutant of PI 3-kinase). Overexpression of kinase-deficient mutants of PKClambda (lambdaKD or lambdaDeltaNKD), achieved with the use of adenovirus-mediated gene transfer, resulted in inhibition of insulin activation of PKClambda, indicating that these mutants exert dominant negative effects. Insulin-stimulated glucose uptake and translocation of the glucose transporter GLUT4 to the plasma membrane, but not growth hormone- or hyperosmolarity-induced glucose uptake, were inhibited by lambdaKD or lambdaDeltaNKD in a dose-dependent manner. The maximal inhibition of insulin-induced glucose uptake achieved by the dominant negative mutants of PKClambda was approximately 50 to 60%. These mutants did not inhibit insulin-induced activation of Akt. A PKClambda mutant that lacks the pseudosubstrate domain (lambdaDeltaPD) exhibited markedly increased kinase activity relative to that of the wild-type enzyme, and expression of lambdaDeltaPD in quiescent 3T3-L1 adipocytes resulted in the stimulation of glucose uptake and translocation of GLUT4 but not in the activation of Akt. Furthermore, overexpression of an Akt mutant in which the phosphorylation sites targeted by growth factors are replaced by alanine resulted in inhibition of insulin-induced activation of Akt but not of PKClambda. These results suggest that insulin-elicited signals that pass through PI 3-kinase subsequently diverge into at least two independent pathways, an Akt pathway and a PKClambda pathway, and that the latter pathway contributes, at least in part, to insulin stimulation of glucose uptake in 3T3-L1 adipocytes.     

A one-chip scalable 8*8 ATM switch LSI employing shared bufferarchitecture

The authors present a one-chip scalable 8×8 shared buffer switch LSI which includes a 256-cell buffer. Speedup, flow control, and input slot rotation functions are provided in order to interconnect LSIs for scaling-up without degrading cell loss rates. Computer simulations show that these functions bring a satisfactory result and can make the cell loss- rate for a Clos three-stage network superior to that for the output buffer switch which includes the same amount of buffer space. A 0.8 μm BiCMOS process is employed for this LSI. The total number of transistors is one million. This LSI has already been fabricated     

Vibration-assisted upconversion of molecular luminescence induced by scanning tunneling microscopy

We investigate the effects of coupling between a molecular exciton, which consists of an electron and a hole in a molecule, and a surface plasmon (exciton-plasmon coupling) on the electron transitions of the molecule using nonequilibrium Green’s function method. Due to the exciton-plasmon coupling, excitation channels of the molecule arise in the energy range lower than the electronic excitation energy of the molecule. It is found that the electron transitions via these excitation channels give rise to the molecular luminescence and the vibrational excitations at the bias voltage lower than the electronic excitation energy of the molecule. Our results also indicate that the vibrational excitations assist the emission of photons, whose energy exceeds the product of the elementary charge and the bias voltage, (upconverted luminescence).