V. Yeast sequencing reports. Identification of a gene encoding a new Ypt/Rab-like monomeric G-protein in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

A Saccharomyces cerevisiae sequence cloned by serendipity was found to encode a protein that is a new member of the Ypt/Rab monomeric G-protein family. This sequence shows high homology to the yeast genes SEC4 and YPT1 and, like SEC4 and YPT1, is essential for viability. The sequence was localized to chromosome V based upon hybridization to pulse-field gel-separated yeast chromosomes. The sequence has been deposited in the GenBank data library under Accession Number L17070.     

Mechanism analysis of gate-induced drain leakage in off-state n-MOSFET

An analytical expression for both band-to-band and band-trap-band indirect tunnelings is used to study the gate-induced drain leakage (GIDL) current of MOSFETs measured before and after hot-carrier stress. The voltage and temperature dependence of GIDL are characterized. Both results show that interface traps situated near the midgap participate in the conduction of GIDL, and band-trap-band indirect tunneling could be the major mechanism. This is further supported by the fact that the percentage increase in GIDL induced by hot-carrier stress is about the same as the corresponding increase in interface-trap density. On the other hand, under low-field conditions, trap-assisted Poole–Frenkle emission dominates over tunneling for temperatures even well below room temperature.     

Tests of univariate and bivariate stochastic ageing

Concepts of ageing describe how a population of units or systems improves or deteriorates with age. Many classes of life distributions are categorized and defined in the literature according to their ageing properties. An important aspect of such classifications is that the exponential distribution is nearly always a member of each class. The notion of stochastic ageing is important in any reliability analysis, and many test statistics have been developed for testing exponentiality against various ageing alternatives. This paper is an overview of these developments. The author begins with a table of ageing classes together with key references, followed by a brief discussion on the characterization of exponentiality. Test procedures are summarized, and followed by the main review. Tests of exponentiality against other alternatives are explained for randomly censored data. Finally, tests of multivariate ageing properties are listed. Some of the life classes have been derived more recently and, as far as is known, no test statistics have been proposed. On the other hand, several tests are available for some classes. Relative efficiency of a test is discussed whenever appropriate     

Ultrahigh and controllable drain current peak-to-valley ratio innegative resistance field-effect transistors with a strained InGaAschannel

Negative resistance field-effect transistor (NERFET) devices using either strained InGaAs or unstrained GaAs channel layers have been fabricated. The strained InGaAs channel NERFET's show strong negative differential resistance and large drain current peak-to-valley ratio. The peak-to-valley ratio of the InGaAs channel NERFET is more than 3000 at room temperature and larger than one million (10⁶) at 77 K. The peak-to-valley ratio is controllable by adjusting the collector voltage     

The effect of ionic interaction on the miscibility and crystallization behaviors of poly(ethylene glycol)/poly(L‐lactic acid) blends

The effect of end groups (2NH₂) of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) on the miscibility and crystallization behaviors of binary crystalline blends of PEG/poly(L ‐lactic acid) (PLLA) were investigated. The results of conductivity meter and dielectric analyzer (DEA) implied the existence of ions, which could be explained by the amine groups of PEG gaining the protons from the carboxylic acid groups of PLLA. The miscibility of PEG(2NH₂)/PLLA blends was the best because of the ionic interaction as compared with PEG(2OH, 1OH‐1CH₃, and 2CH₃)/PLLA blends. Since the ionic interaction formed only at the chain ends of PEG(2NH₂) and PLLA, unlike hydrogen bonds forming at various sites along the chains in the other PEG/PLLA blend systems, the folding of PLLA blended with PEG(2NH₂) was affected in a different manner. Thus the fold surface free energy played an important role on the crystallization rate of PLLA for the PEG(2NH₂)/PLLA blend system. PLLA had the least fold surface free energy and the fast crystallization rate in the PEG(2NH₂)/PLLA blend system, among all the PEG/PLLA systems studied. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

Prediction of the effects on dynamic response due to distributed structural modification with additional degrees of freedom

The aim of this study is to investigate means of efficiently assessing the effects of distributed structural modification on the dynamic properties of a complex structure. The dynamic properties of the modified structure can be determined by experimental testing or numerical simulation, both of which are complex, expensive and time-consuming. Assuming that the original dynamic characteristics are already established and that the modification is a relatively simple attachment, the modified dynamic properties may be determined numerically without solving the equations of motion of the full-modified structure. The frequency response functions (FRFs) of the modified structure can be computed by coupling the original FRFs and a delta dynamic stiffness matrix for the modification introduced. The validity of this approach is investigated by applying it to a cantilever beam to which a smaller beam is attached as modification. The original FRFs were obtained experimentally as well as numerically. The delta dynamic stiffness matrix was determined numerically by modeling the attachment and part of the original structure including the attachment points. The FRFs of the modified beam were then computed. Good agreement is obtained by comparing the results to the FRFs of the modified beam determined experimentally as well as by numerical modeling of the complete modified structure.     

Cross-Border Migration of Hong Kong Residents Under the 'One Country, Two Systems' Policy

Hong Kong is known as a migrant city because its population was sourced from mainland China, and because there has always been outflows of people to overseas countries, especially from the mid-1980s to mid-1990s. Emigration to mainland China has become a significant recent trend. This article discusses this phenomenon in the theoretical contexts of migration and trans-border residential development. It contends that the trend will intensify more quickly than other cross-border movements because the two systems are separated by a political border within one country, and because there are common cultural ties and rapid economic integration.     

Fullerene Derivatives Attenuate Bronchoconstriction Induced by Xanthine-Xanthine Oxidase

The intratracheal instillation of xanthine-xanthine oxidase caused a marked decrease in dynamic respiratory compliance, indicating airway constriction. The constriction was significantly attenuated by fullerenol-1, but not by other agents or receptor antagonists.     

A new approach to aid urban water management decision making using trade-off sacrifice modelled by fuzzy logic.

An approach to aid decision making for urban water management is presented that is based on the concept of trade-off sacrifice level in pairwise comparisons between criteria, modelled using fuzzy logic. This approach is illustrated by a case study - selection of alternative water supplies for a Sydney household. Four key decision making criteria covering health, economic, environment and technical aspects are selected: annual probability of infection, life cycle energy use, life cycle cost and reliability. The decision making problem is to select between cases with different volume and application of recycled greywater and rainwater in light of the four criteria. Decision maker's preference is expressed by five levels of trade-off sacrifice between pairs of criteria. The decision makers can assign their preferences for sacrifice level by linguistic assessment and the output trade-off weight (TOW). Measures of decision makers' perceived trade-off level are modelled by a rule-based fuzzy logic control system. The final analysis shows the performance for each sacrifice class for each case, to aid overall decision making with stakeholders.     

Effect of supports on the redox performance of pyrite cinder in chemical looping combustion

Chemical looping combustion (CLC) is a clean and efficient flame-free combustion technology,which combust the fuels by lattice oxygen from a solid oxygen carrier with inherent CO2 capture.The develop-ment of oxygen carriers with low cost and high redox performance is crucial to the whole efficiency of CLC process.As the solid by-product from the sulfuric acid production,pyrite cinder presented excellent redox performance as an oxygen carrier in CLC process.The main components in pyrite cinder are Fe2O3,CaSO4,Al2O3 and SiO2 in which Fe2O3 is the active component to provide lattice oxygen.In order to sys-tematic investigate the functions of supports (CaSO4,Al2O3 and SiO2) in pyrite cinder,three oxygen car-riers (Fe2O3-CaSO4,Fe2O3-Al2O3 and Fe2O3-SiO2) were prepared and evaluated in this study.The results showed that Fe2O3-CaSO4 displayed high redox activity and cycling stability in the multiple redox cycles.However,both Fe2O3-Al2O3 and Fe2O3-SiO2 experienced serious deactivation during redox reactions.It indicated that the inert Fe-Si solid solution (Fe2SiO4) was formed in the spent Fe2O3-SiO2 sample,which decreased the oxygen carrying capacity of this sample.The XPS results showed that the oxygen species on the surface of Fe2O3-CaSO4 could be fully recovered after the 20 redox cycles.It can be concluded that CaSO4 is the key to the high redox activity and cycling stability of pyrite cinder.