Metallic Adhesive Layers for Ag‐Based First Surface Mirrors

Metallic thin films have been evaluated as adhesive layers for first surface mirrors. Thin films (0.5–4 nm thick) of Cr, Cu, Ge, Sn, and Ni, capped with an over layer of 100 nm of Ag have been deposited by means of ion assisted electron beam evaporation onto glass substrates. The specular reflectance, conductivity, morphology, adhesion, and abrasion resistance of the mirrors have been assessed and compared. This work demonstrates the superior Ni and Ge adhesion and abrasion resistance to Ag thin films, while Cr and again Ni are the best candidates in terms of reflectance enhancement. In particular, 4 nm of Ni increases the Ag reflectance from 95.7% to 96.7%, exhibits the strongest adhesion as determined by the cross hatch tape test and the lowest loss of material after the different abrasion tests is just 50% in comparison to 100% for Ag‐coated glass substrates.

     

Design of N-way distributed Doherty amplifier for WCDMA and OFDM applications

A novel three-way distributed Doherty power amplifier with an extended efficiency range for WCDMA or OFDM repeater or base-station applications is presented. This distributed Doherty amplifier consists of one main amplifier and two peaking amplifiers. To achieve high efficiency at a high back-off power, the peaking amplifier structure is based on the dual-fed distributed amplifier form. The 2140 MHz measured results of the three-way distributed Doherty amplifier yielded an 11 dB power gain, with 39.5% power added efficiency at 9.5 dB back-off power     

An adaptive predistorter for a power amplifier based on adjacentchannel emissions [mobile communications]

A slowly adapting predistorter is presented. The approach is to minimize the transmitter output power in spectral regions occupied only by intermodulation (IM) products. In this way, only a spot power measurement is required. This technique relies on the principle that the power amplifier's characteristics vary slowly with time. By monitoring the out-of-band power one can obtain an estimate for the distortion introduced by the power amplifier. Adaptation is accomplished by iterative adjustment of the predistorter parameters to minimize the IM power. For a polynomial predistorter, the authors analytically demonstrate that the IM power is a quadratic function of the coefficients. A variety of algorithms therefore apply. The authors present an analog static predistortion linearization circuit that uses the envelope of the baseband signal to generate the nonlinear functional used in predistorting the input signal. The improvement obtained with an amplitude-modulated input signal was 15 dB in the third- and 5 dB in the fifth-order intermodulation products. The IM improvement could be maintained with the use of a robust direct search algorithm     

Interactive imagination: Tapping the emotions through interactive story for compelling simulations

Most compassionate parents, teachers, or coaches will echo the belief that you must spark the imagination or touch the heart to teach the mind, train the body, or inspire a sense of wonder. This is also the storyteller's craft. How can we use story within interactive simulations to better teach, train, or inspire? Now that science and technology can make simulations more realistic, how can art make them more compelling through interactive fiction? The key is to use story to tap the depths of emotions, engaging the user's desire for exploration, learning, challenge, and adventure. In the new domain of training, story becomes the means more than the end. Can the compelling art of story transition from the passive media of motion pictures to the nonlinear interactivity of simulation? This is venturing beyond the reactive branching of cause-and-effect games or choose-your-own-ending adventure stories. This process is about the unpredictable expressiveness of audiences exchanging discourse with the author mediated through the digital media - the story engine.     

Primary human prostate cancer cells harboring p53 mutations are clonally expanded in metastases

Recent studies suggest a role for p53 in prostate cancer progression. Although p53 mutations in primary prostate cancer tissues are relatively infrequent, they occur at significant levels in metastatic disease. Here we describe a novel approach to the molecular analysis of p53 in paired specimens of primary and metastatic prostate cancer that results in quantitative estimates of the extent of clonal expansion. In 20 pairs with 1 or both specimens p53 immunopositive and in 6 pairs with both specimens immunonegative, the frequency of mutations was estimated by microdissection of the cancer from fixed and sectioned tissues, isolation of the DNA followed by PCR amplification of p53 genomic fragments, and cloning of the PCR products into plasmid vectors. At least 90 clones/tissue specimen were screened for mutations by single-strand conformational polymorphism analysis. DNA from abnormally migrating single-strand conformational polymorphism samples was sequenced to confirm mutations. Missense mutations in exon 5, 7, or 8 were detected in 9 of 20 immunopositive pairs and in 1 of 6 immunonegative pairs. A marked heterogeneity of mutations in primary prostate cancer was apparent. The frequency of p53 mutations was greater in the metastases than in the primary tumors. In three immunopositive pairs, the same p53 mutation was demonstrated at a low frequency in the primary tumor but was demonstrated at a greater frequency in the metastasis, indicating relatively limited clonal expansion of cells harboring specific p53 mutations in the primary tumor, yet significant clonal growth at metastatic sites as determined by this novel method.     

Recombinant hepatitis A virus antigen: improved production and utility in diagnostic immunoassays

Hepatitis A virus (HAV) immunoassays use cell culture-derived HAV antigen to detect HAV-specific antibodies. The current method of production of HAV antigen in tissue culture is time-consuming and expensive. We previously expressed the HAV open reading frame in recombinant vaccinia viruses (rV-ORF). The recombinant HAV polyprotein was accurately processed and was assembled into subviral particles. These particles were bound by HAV-neutralizing antibodies and were able to elicit antibodies which were detected by commercial immunoassays. The present investigation compared the production of HAV antigen by standard tissue culture methods to the production of HAV antigen with the recombinant vaccinia virus system. In addition, HAV and rV-ORF antigens were assessed for their utility in diagnostic immunoassays. Serum or plasma samples from HAV antibody-positive and antibody-negative individuals were evaluated by immunoassay that used either HAV or rV-ORF antigen. All samples (86 of 86) in which HAV antibody was detected by a commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) also tested positive by the recombinant antigen-based immunoassay (VacRIA). Similarly, all samples (50 of 50) that were HAV antibody negative also tested negative by the VacRIA. The lower limit of detection of HAV antibody was similar among immunoassays with either HAV or rV-ORF antigen. Thus, in the population studied, the sensitivity and specificity of the VacRIA were equivalent to those of the commercial ELISA. Since production of recombinant antigen is faster and less expensive than production of traditional HAV antigen, the development of diagnostic HAV antibody tests with recombinant HAV antigen appears warranted.     

Further evidence linking urolithiasis and blood coagulation: urinary prothrombin fragment 1 is present in stone matrix

The fact that organic material is always present and distributed throughout each renal calculus suggests that it may play a role in stone formation. The organic matrix of calcium oxalate (CaOx) crystals freshly generated in urine in vitro contains urinary prothrombin fragment 1 (UPTF1) as the principal protein. In this initial study, matrix was extracted from 12 renal calculi and evaluated for the presence of UPTF1 using Western blotting. UPTF1 was present in all eight stones whose principal component was CaOx, and in one of two stones which consisted mainly of calcium phosphate (CaP). UPTF1 was absent from the two struvite calculi examined. The relationship between CaP and UPTF1 was explored further. Matrix harvested from CaP crystals freshly generated in urine in vitro was also shown to contain UPTF1 as its principal component. Our inability to detect UPTF1 in one mixed CaOx/CaP stone may be related to our methods of matrix retrieval, while its absence from two struvite stones argues against it being present in the other stones merely as a consequence of passive inclusion. This absence may be related to the alkaline environment typical of struvite stone growth. The finding that UPTF1 is present in some renal stones provides the first direct evidence that links blood coagulation proteins with urolithiasis.