Nonlinear distortion prediction of active filters

The represention of circuit variables in frequency-domain complex matrix and nonlinearities by power series gives rise to a nonlinear distortion prediction technique, the intermodulation-balance method. This operates entirely in the frequency domain. The technique is verified by a single-amplifier filter with a two-tone input signal     

Bcl-2 deregulation leads to inhibition of sodium butyrate-induced apoptosis in human colorectal carcinoma cells

Epidemiological studies have linked dietary fiber to the prevention of human colorectal cancer and suggest that short chain fatty acids such as butyric acid, which is produced by fermentation of dietary fiber in the large intestine, may be an important mediator of the protective effects of fiber. We investigated the role of Bcl-2 deregulation on the sensitivity of colorectal carcinoma cells to undergo butyrate-induced apoptosis. Here we report an inverse relationship between the levels of Bcl-2 and the sensitivity of colorectal carcinoma cell lines to undergo apoptosis in response to butyrate. Overexpression of Bcl-2 in colorectal carcinoma DiFi cells resulted in suppression of butyrate-induced apoptosis and enhanced cell survival in response to butyrate. Butyrate-induced apoptosis was accompanied by inhibition of expression of a 30 kDa protein (p30, immunorecognized by anti-Bcl-2 mAb) and this cellular effect of butyrate was inhibited by Bcl-2 overexpression. These findings suggest that deregulation of Bcl-2 in human colorectal carcinoma cells confers resistance to induction of apoptosis by butyrate, a dietary micronutrient.     

Boundary Constrained Swept Surfaces for Modelling and Animation

Due to their simplicity and intuitiveness, swept surfaces are widely used in many surface modelling applications. In this paper, we present a versatile swept surface technique called the boundary constrained swept surfaces. The most distinct feature is its ability to satisfy boundary constraints, including the shape and tangent conditions at the boundaries of a swept surface. This permits significantly varying surfaces to be both modelled and smoothly assembled, leading to the construction of complex objects. The representation, similar to an ordinary swept surface, is analytical in nature and thus it is light in storage cost and numerically very stable to compute. We also introduce a number of useful shape manipulation tools, such as sculpting forces, to deform a surface both locally and globally. In addition to being a complementary method to the mainstream surface modelling and deformation techniques, we have found it very effective in automatically rebuilding existing complex models. Model reconstruction is arguably one of the most laborious and expensive tasks in modelling complex animated characters. We demonstrate how our technique can be used to automate this process.     

Heterogeneous object modeling: A review

A review on the recent development in heterogeneous object modeling is provided in this paper. General problems and prevalent solutions to the modeling of heterogeneous objects are investigated. Vigorous heterogeneous object representations are roughly classified into three major categories: evaluated models, unevaluated models and composite models. We reveal their similarities and study their strengths and weaknesses in terms of the representational capacities, intuitiveness, exactness, compactness, efficiency and other criteria. Different design paradigms are briefly reviewed to provide an overview of the state-of-the-art in heterogeneous object design. Finally, open problems and possible future directions are discussed.     

High-breakdown-voltage AlSbAs/InAs n-channel field-effecttransistors

InAs channel field-effect transistors of 1-μm gate length were grown by molecular beam epitaxy and observed to operate at channel electric fields (20 kV/cm) higher than previously demonstrated and several times greater than the threshold for impact ionization in bulk InAs. Voltage gains on the order of 10 were observed with transconductances as high as 414 mS/mm and output conductances as low as 33 mS/mm. These voltage gains are comparable to those of GaAs-based devices and are the highest observed for InAs channel devices. The results demonstrate the potential for practical room-temperature operation of InAs FETs     

Protein kinase C activity in the hippocampus following spatial learning tasks in mice

We have tested the effect of several bile acids on the proliferation and differentiation of the HL60 human promyelocytic leukemia cell line in vitro. Deoxycholate, chenodeoxycholate and lithocholic acid caused dose-dependent inhibition of cell proliferation and induction of differentiation along the monocyte/macrophage pathway as determined by morphology, NBT test, non-specific esterase, and staining by monoclonal antibodies against specific cell-surface antigens. Optimal effects were obtained at 100, 75, and 60 microM of the 3 bile acids respectively. Cell-cycle flow-cytometric analysis showed that a substantial fraction of HL60 cells accumulated at the G0/G1 transition. Protein-kinase-C inhibitors such as sphinganine and H-7 inhibited the differentiation-inducing effect of bile acids, suggesting a possible role for PKC in this regulation. When bile acids were combined with non-effective concentrations of all-trans retinoic acid, enhancement of the monocytic differentiation of THP-1 human leukemia cells was observed. Our findings demonstrate induction of tumor-cell differentiation by bile acids, compounds that present minimal undesirable effects in humans.