A study on the temperature dependence of epoxy/BaTiO<Subscript>3</Subscript> composite embedded capacitor films

In this study, the temperature dependence of capacitance, one of the most important properties of embedded capacitor films (ECFs), was investigated. The temperature dependence of the capacitance of ECFs was determined by the temperature dependence of the dielectric constant and thickness, and among these, the main factor was the dielectric constant of ECFs. The dielectric constant of ECFs was determined by that of epoxy and BaTiO₃ powders. Below 130°C, the dielectric constant of ECFs increased as temperature increased, and was mainly affected by an epoxy matrix. However, above 130°C (the Curie temperature of BaTiO₃), the increased rate of the dielectric constant of ECFs started decreasing. This was due to the fact that BaTiO₃ powder undergoes a phase transition from a tetragonal to a cubic structure, and its dielectric constant decreases at 130°C. The dielectric constant of BaTiO₃ powder was obtained from measured dielectric constants of ECF and application of the Lichtenecker logarithmic rule.     

Toward self-organizing service communities

This paper discusses a framework in which catalog service communities are built, linked for interaction, and constantly monitored and adapted over time. A catalog service community (represented as a peer node in a peer-to-peer network) in our system can be viewed as domain specific data integration mediators representing the domain knowledge and the registry information. The query routing among communities is performed to identify a set of data sources that are relevant to answering a given query. The system monitors the interactions between the communities to discover patterns that may lead to restructuring of the network (e.g., irrelevant peers removed, new relationships created, etc.).     

A review of new oncotropic tracers for PET imaging

We have developed three biochemical probes to determine if they are sensitive probes of early biochemical change in a tumor. All three probes appear to have the appropriate properties for in vivo imaging, but must now be evaluated as probes for the sensitive detection of changes in early malignant disease.     

Adaptive mode decision for H.264 encoder

An adaptive mode decision algorithm is presented, with rate-distortion optimisation that reduces the complexity of the H.264 encoder without loss of image quality and compression ratio. The proposed algorithm uses the property of an all-zero coefficients block that is produced by quantisation and coefficient thresholding to effectively skip unnecessary modes. Experimental results show that the speed of the adaptive mode decision algorithm is two times faster than the full-mode decision algorithm of the JM72 reference encoder, without any coding loss.     

Effect of organic vapour interaction on permeation rate through polymer films

The permeability coefficients (P) of linalool, citral ethyl butyrate, d-limonene and octanal permeating through LDPE and ionomer films were measured alone as individual and as a component of a mixture at a temperature of 23 °C and in saturated water vapour. Values of P for ionomer film were approximately two orders of magnitude below those for LDPE for the compounds tested. Both PET and PETG films were found to be much better barriers against the compounds tested than LDPE and ionomer films. In general, the permeability, diffusion and solubility coefficients (P. D, and S) values measured in mixture were substantially less than the values obtained individually. Permeability behaviour of these compounds at low concentrations in the mixture was similar to that of permanent gases. Reduction of solubility coefficients in mixture permeation was greater with the higher solubility coefficients. These results provide a better understanding of the mechanism of vapour diffusion through polymers.     

Single-Chip Eye Tracker Using Smart CMOS Image Sensor Pixels

The eye tracker is a system that detects the point where the user gazes on. The conventional eye tracker using a Charge-Coupled Device (CCD) camera needs many peripherals and software computation causing high cost, computation time and power consumption. This paper proposes a single-chip eye tracker using smart CMOS Image Sensor (CIS) pixels. The proposed eye tracker does not require additional peripherals and operates at higher speed than the conventional approach. The prototype chip was designed and fabricated for a 32 × 32 smart CIS pixels array with a 0.35-μ m CMOS process. The test results show ± 1 pixel error at the rate of 125 frame-per-second. The power consumption is 260 mW with 3.3 V supply voltage and the silicon area is 3.8 mm²     

Biomimetic micropatterning of silica by surface-initiated polymerization and microcontact printing

Micropatterns of silica on a gold substrate were generated by a biomimetic approach, namely, the biosilicification of silicic acids. The procedure consists of three simple steps: pattern generation of a polymerization initiator, (BrC(CH(3))(2)COO(CH(2))(11)S)(2), by microcontact printing; surface-initiated, atom-transfer radical polymerization of 2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA) from the patterned area; and polycondensation of silicic acids. The tertiary amine-containing polymer, pDMAEMA, aided in the spatially controlled polycondensation of silicic acids on surfaces in the presence of phosphate ions, and micropatterns of silica on a gold substrate were successfully generated in combination with the technique of microcontact printing. The procedure could be extended to the controlled fabrication of silica patterns with any size, shape, or thickness.     

Synergistic cooperation between phorbol ester and IFN-gamma for induction of nitric oxide synthesis in murine peritoneal macrophages

The role of protein kinase C (PKC) in the induction of nitric oxide (NO) synthesis in murine peritoneal macrophages was examined. Phorbol ester, a PKC activator, had no effect on NO synthesis by itself, whereas IFN-gamma alone had modest activity. When phorbol ester was used in combination with IFN-gamma, there was a marked cooperative induction of NO synthesis in a dose-dependent manner. This increase in NO synthesis was reflected as increased amount of inducible NO synthase (iNOS) mRNA, as determined by Northern blotting. The optimal effect of phorbol ester was shown at 6 h after treatment with IFN-gamma. Phorbol ester also induced the release of NO to the incubation medium by bacillus Calmette-Guerin-infected peritoneal macrophages. Prolonged incubation of cells with phorbol ester, which down-regulates PKC activity, abolished the synergistic cooperative effect on NO production with IFN-gamma. In addition, such PKC inhibitors as staurosporin or polymyxin B reduced NO production induced by IFN-gamma plus phorbol ester. When the cells were treated with both actinomycin D and phorbol ester after IFN-gamma stimulation, more NO was produced and more iNOS mRNA was expressed than in the cells treated with actinomycin D alone. On the basis of these observations, we conclude that PKC might not be directly involved in the expression of NO synthase, but, instead, might be involved in the stabilization of the iNOS mRNA already expressed by the treatment of IFN-gamma.     

Architecture and implementation of the grand alliance HDTV video encoder

A high-definition television (HDTV) video compression encoder is being constructed for use during the standardization process for United States terrestrial broadcast HDTV. The encoder generates an MPEG-2 main profile/high level compliant bitstream at compressed data rates from 10–80 million bits/second. Both interlaced and progressive image formats in image sizes up to 1080 lines × 1920 pixels per line are supported.©1994 John Wiley & Sons Inc     

Bioinformatics and its role in the study of the evolution and probiotic potential of lactic acid bacteria

Food Science and Biotechnology - Due to their numerous well-established applications in the food industry, there have been many studies regarding the adaptation and evolution of lactic acid...