In vitro mutagenesis of PH-20 hyaluronidase from human sperm

The cDNA encoding PH-20 hyaluronidase from human sperm has been mutated at five positions by in vitro mutagenesis. We have changed three acidic amino acids and two arginine residues that are conserved in the sequence of mammalian PH-20 polypeptides as well as in the hyaluronidases from bee and hornet venom. Of the former, the mutants [Gln113]PH-20 and [Gln249]PH-20 had no detectable enzymatic activity; the mutant [Asn111]PH-20 had about 3% activity. The mutant [Thr252]PH-20 was also inactive, while [Gly176]PH-20 had only about 1% activity. This indicates that the PH-20 hyaluronidases, like numerous enzymes that hydrolyze glycosidic bonds, have acidic amino acids in their active site. Moreover, for the binding of the substrate, the polyanion hyaluronan, arginine residues appear to be essential.     

Linear crosstalk in 4×4 semiconductor optical amplifier gateswitch matrix

We report a comprehensive crosstalk investigation of a packaged InGaAsP/InP 4×4 semiconductor optical amplifier gate switch matrix, experimentally as well as theoretically. For a fully loaded switch with the same wavelength on all four inputs, all possible switching combinations are analyzed, thus yielding realistic crosstalk figures. Coherent and incoherent crosstalk phenomena are identified, and a switch crosstalk less than -40 dB has been measured     

Near Shannon limit performance of low density parity check codes

The authors report the empirical performance of Gallager's low density parity check codes on Gaussian channels. They show that performance substantially better than that of standard convolutional and concatenated codes can be achieved; indeed the performance is almost as close to the Shannon limit as that of turbo codes     

Mössbauer effect study of mechanically alloyed Γ and Γ1 Fe−Zn intermediate phases

The Mössbauer effect measurements of as-ball-milled mechanically alloyed Fe?Zn intermediate phases of Γ (Fe₃Zn₁₀) and Γ₁ (Fe₅Zn₂₁) compositions exhibit characteristic spectra consisting of triplets. Each is characterized with an Fe site with unusually large quadrupole splittings measuring 0.940 mm/s in the cubic Fe?Zn phases and, in addition, three other doublets. In the aged state, both compositions show spectra free of the Fe site with quadrupole splitting of 0.940 mm/s, designated as _MSΓFe₁ and _{MSΓ 1}Fe₁, respectively. This suggests that the metastable states are similar, while their separate transformation paths to stable equilibrium lead to distinct crystal structures. The parameters for the aged states are compared with those reported in the literature for both phases.     

Comparison of radiochemical purity control methods for 99Tcm radiopharmaceuticals used in hospital radiopharmacies

The free fraction of pertechnetate in 99Tcm radiopharmaceuticals has to be tested for quality control reasons in line with the European Pharmacopoeia. Such quality control is often performed by miniaturized chromatographic methods. There are several recommended methods in the literature for quality control of the same radiopharmaceuticals, though it is unlikely that all methods are equivalent. Some of these methods were compared, taking into account different parameters (spot size, time required, analytical artifacts, true separation and shape of the chromatographic peaks, ease of handling), to verify the best method for the control of each radiopharmaceutical. It would appear that instant thin layer chromatography silica gel is the best support for these miniaturized methods, using MEK as solvent to check DTPA, DMSA, gluconate, pyrophosphate, medronate and phytate; NaCl 20% solution is the best solvent for IDA derivatives, human albumin and albumin particles (microspheres, macroaggregates).     

Community life support training: does it attract the right people?

We first performed autogenous bone grafting for lesions of the hallux sesamoid in 1984. During the next 9 years, 21 patients (11 men and 10 women with an average age of 34 and 32 years, respectively) underwent this surgical procedure for symptomatic tibial hallux sesamoid non-unions. Successful bony union was achieved in all but two patients. The majority of patients obtained concomitant relief of preoperative symptomatology and returned to their preinjury level of activity. We believe that this procedure serves as an alternative to hallux sesamoid excision in selected cases.     

A genetic algorithm for multiple molecular sequence alignment

MOTIVATION: Multiple molecular sequence alignment is among the most important and most challenging tasks in computational biology. The currently used alignment techniques are characterized by great computational complexity, which prevents their wider use. This research is aimed at developing a new technique for efficient multiple sequence alignment. APPROACH: The new method is based on genetic algorithms. Genetic algorithms are stochastic approaches for efficient and robust searching. By converting biomolecular sequence alignment into a problem of searching for optimal or near-optimal points in an 'alignment space', a genetic algorithm can be used to find good alignments very efficiently. RESULTS: Experiments on real data sets have shown that the average computing time of this technique may be two or three orders lower than that of a technique based on pairwise dynamic programming, while the alignment qualities are very similar. AVAILABILITY: A C program on UNIX has been written to implement the technique. It is available on request from the authors.     

A new erasing method for a single-voltage long-endurance flashmemory

A new method to erase a standard (double-poly, stacked-gate NOR-type) flash cell is proposed. The method, still using the tunneling mechanism to extract electrons from the floating gate, is based on the concept of keeping the electric field constant during the whole erasing operation. The new method has two main advantages with respect to the conventional one: (1) it does not depend on the supply voltage variation and (2) it allows a better reliability in terms of endurance-induced stress. Results have shown that flash device performances are greatly improved in terms of stability and endurance reliability up to one million cycles     

往复式压缩机管道的防振设计

分析了往复式压缩机管道产生振动的原因及影响因素,提出解决管道振动的方法及对策。