A study of the coating-substrate interface layer of an Al2O3-coated cemented carbide cutting tool

The microstructure of the interface bonding zone of the Al₂O₃ coating and the cemented carbide substrate of a coated tool has been analyzed using transmission electron microscopy. It is concluded that a complex aluminium-tantalum oxide of rutile type AlTaO₄ contributes to the strong bonding owing to the similarity of its crystal structure to TiO₂. Synthesis of experimental tools with other oxides very similar to AlTaO₄ as bonding material confirmed this hypothesis.     

Cell-to-cell transfer of glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored membrane proteins during sperm maturation

The majority of gene therapy protocols have used or plan to use retroviral vectors based upon murine leukaemia virus. These vectors are able to infect many different cell types, and the retroviral promoter, which is often used to control the expression of a therapeutic gene, is active in a wide range of different cell types. Safe and efficient gene transfer systems, whether based upon retroviruses or other agents, should deliver beneficial genes only to cells that require their therapeutic action, and these genes ideally should be expressed exclusively in such cells. In this paper, strategies for redirecting the infection spectrum of retroviral vectors in order to obtain cell-targeted gene delivery are discussed. These strategies include the engineering of the retroviral envelope protein, which, together with the availability of its cognate receptor, determines infectivity, and the use of proteins from other enveloped viruses of both retroviral and nonretroviral origin in the cell lines used to produce retroviral vector virus particles. Expression targeting can be achieved by limiting the expression of therapeutic genes to the cell type(s) of interest using promoters from genes that are normally active in these cells. This approach to targeting is illustrated using promoters from genes expressed in either the liver, the pancreas or the mammary gland as a means to limit gene expression specifically to the cell types that make up these organs. The successful utilization of new generations of targeted retroviral vectors in the clinic may well pave the way for superior gene delivery systems of the future that seek out their target cell, delivering a therapeutic gene to and expressing it only in such cells.     

Minimum-phase calibration of sampling oscilloscopes

We describe an algorithm for determining the minimum phase of a linear time-invariant response function from its magnitude. The procedure is based on Kramers-Kronig relations in combination with auxiliary direct measurements of the desired phase response. We demonstrate that truncation of the Hilbert transform gives rise to large errors in estimated phase, but that these errors may be approximated using a small number of basis functions. As an example, we obtain a minimum-phase calibration of a sampling oscilloscope in the frequency domain. This result rests on data obtained by an electrooptic sampling (EOS) technique in combination with a swept-sine calibration procedure. The EOS technique yields magnitude and phase information over a broad bandwidth, yet has degraded uncertainty estimates from dc to approximately 1 GHz. The swept-sine procedure returns only the magnitude of the oscilloscope response function, yet may be performed on a fine frequency grid from about 1 MHz to several gigahertz. The resulting minimum-phase calibration spans frequencies from dc to 110 GHz, and is traceable to fundamental units. The validity of the minimum-phase character of the oscilloscope response function at frequencies common to both measurements is determined as part of our analysis. A full uncertainty analysis is provided.     

A support tool for identifying evaluation issues of road safety measures

The introduction of new technologies in traffic produces a range of unknown deviations in the desired traffic process. These developments require additional ex-ante assessment procedures for measures which will be implemented in the traffic system. In this paper, the HAZOP methodology is applied to road traffic measures to provide scenarios based upon predicted deviations and problems with new, mainly in-vehicle technologies. To make HAZOP applicable for road safety purposes analysis of the expectations of road users is added to the traditional approach. In this paper, some results are shown for speed reduction measures. The dependency of the results on the membership of the HAZOP team and especially the question if a mixture of expertise is required are also discussed.     

Micronuclear and macronuclear sequences of a Euplotes crassus gene encoding a putative nuclear protein kinase

Tacrolimus (FK506) is a new immunosuppressive agent that has recently been given to recipients of liver transplants. Multicentre studies conducted in the United States and Europe have reported that tacrolimus is superior to cyclosporine in preventing allograft rejection. The absorption of tacrolimus is independent of bile, and, therefore, therapeutic blood levels are usually achieved by taking oral preparations within 72 hours of liver transplantation. Compared with the use of cyclosporine, this regimen has resulted in shorter hospital stays and reduced costs. Tacrolimus does not cause hirsutism or gingival hyperplasia, which are common disfiguring complications of cyclosporine. Serious neurological side effects, lymphoproliferative disorders and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy have recently been reported in children taking high doses of tacrolimus. When lower doses of tacrolimus are used in primary immunosuppressive therapy, the incidence of neurological side effects and lymphoproliferative disorders of tacrolimus and cyclosporine have been reported to be similar. Hence, tacrolimus is a potent immunosuppressant that has many advantages over cyclosporine but must be used cautiously, since high doses have been associated with an increased incidence of lymphoproliferative disorders and cardiomyopathy.     

Switching-mode dependence of inductive noise in VLSI power bus lines

The switching-mode dependence of inductive noise on the power bus lines has been investigated. As the maximum operation frequency of the very large-scale integration is determined by the slowest response in the critical path, suppression of inductive noise in power lines is crucial. Circuits with 50% duty cycle are almost free of inductive noise. Contrarily, the low duty cycle circuits are highly subject to the inductive noise thus the decoupling capacitor needs to be carefully implemented, considering the line inductance and effective frequency. The conventional "10/spl times/ of switching-capacitor" rule-of-thumb is not applicable to decoupling capacitor implementation and can cause worse inductive noise than a "no capacitor" situation.     

Induction Thermocoagulation?A Seed Power Study

Thermal-power output of destructive therapeutic implants composed of nickel-palladium Curie alloys or 430 stainless steel (a few watts in typical use) is presented. Eddy-current models of implant heating are discussed. A field strength of about 5000 A/m-1 is shown to be appropriate for seeds of about 2-mm OD.     

Processing ironweed (Vernonia anthelmintica) seed in a soybean extraction pilot plant

High quality domesticVernonia anthelmintica (ironweed) seed was grown on many experimental test plots at a variety of locations during the 1963 season. Quality appeared to be related to seed density as judged by high oil content of 25 to 32%, the oils having oxirane oxygen values of 3.6 to 4.0% with low acidity, less than 2% calculated as epoxyoleic acid. Larger plantings in 1963 made without benefit of test plot data produced poor quality seed. For processing some of this seed was upgraded to fair quality by air-elutriation. Processing in a small soybean continuous solvent extraction plant was successfully achieved with only minor changes in existing equipment. No enzymatic lipolysis occurred during these operations. The oil obtained was equal in quality to that prepared from the same seed in the laboratory by the best procedures available. Also, the oil was improved in quality by removal of the major portion of its free fatty acids and unsaponifiable material. The chief natural component of the seed oil, trivernolin, was prepared from a substantial quantity of the oil miscella to demonstrate the commercial feasibility of this operation. Presented at the AOCS Meeting, Chicago, October 1964. E. Utiliz. Res. and Devel. Div., ARS, USDA.     

Effect of induced mood states on activity and self-reported affect.

Studied the influence of positive and negative affect induced by cognitive mediation on behaviors thought to reflect depression. Data from 88 undergraduates who completed the Multiple Affect Adjective Checklist and who were subsequently assigned to 3 mood-induction conditions (elation, depression, and neutral) support a cognitive mediation theory of depression and suggest that affect can be manipulated in the laboratory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of practice on speed of information processing in children and adults: Age sensitivity and age invariance.

In 2 experiments, children and adults were exposed to 4 different information-processing tasks. Consistent with the global trend hypothesis, age-sensitive linear relations were observed between child and adult latencies, and 10- and 11-yr-olds were approximately 1.7 and 1.6 times slower than 19-yr-olds as predicted by R. Kail's (see record 1991-20909-001) growth function. In Exp 1, the relation between child and adult latencies did not change over 4 sessions of practice, implying that practice has equivalent effects on corresponding processing steps in children and adults. In both experiments, an age-invariant linear relation between dispersion and central tendency was observed, indicating that children's greater within-S variability is entirely due to their slower speed of processing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)