Fabrication of wavelength-tunable butt-coupled sampled grating DBR lasers using planar buried heterostructure

Planar buried heterostructure (PBH) was adopted to fabricate a sampled grating distributed Bragg reflector laser diode (SGDBR-LD) having a low threshold current and a stable fundamental transverse mode. The etching process for butt-coupling was optimized to improve the reproducibility and the uniformity of the butt-coupled waveguide. The maximum output power of the fabricated SGDBR-LD was 20 mW at 200-mA continuous-wave operation at 25/spl deg/C. The output power was measured 10 and 9 mW higher than those of ridged waveguide (RWG) structure and buried ridge stripe (BRS), and the threshold current was slightly higher than those of RWG and BRS. The spectra of 25 channels spaced 50 GHz within the tuning range of 44.4 nm was obtained by a precise control of SG and phase control currents. The side-mode suppression ratio of more than 35 dB was obtained in the whole tuning range. The output power variation was less than 5 dB, which is 4 dB smaller than that of RWG structure.     

Specific interaction between tetrandrine and Quillaja saponins in promoting permeabilization of plasma membrane in human leukemic HL-60 cells

Spontaneous Ni2+ entry (leak), measured as fluorescence quench in fura-2-loaded HL-60 cells at the excitation wavelength of 360 nm, was strongly inhibited by tetrandrine (TET, 100 microM), a Ca2+ antagonist of Chinese herbal origin. Exposure of the cells for 5 min to saponins from Quillaja saponaria (QS, 30 microg/ml), surfactants well known to permeabilize the plasma membrane by complexing with cholesterol, promoted Ni2+ entry without causing fura-2 leak-out. Unexpectedly, TET caused an immediate (within 2.5 min) augmentation of QS-promoted Ni2+ entry; and a 5-min treatment with both TET and QS resulted not only in an enhanced Ni2+ entry, but also a fura-2 leak-out. Ginseng saponins (100 microg/ml) alone or together with TET did not cause such a permeabilization. Permeabilization induced by 1-3 microM digitonin, another cholesterol-complexing glycoside, could not be enhanced by TET. TET did not affect permeabilization induced by Triton X-100 (0.01%), a detergent which non-specifically disrupts the hydrophobic interaction at the plasma membrane. TET also did not enhance Ni2+ entry triggered by ionomycin (0.35 microM) or SK&F 96365 (20 microM). Further, it did not augment Ni2+ entry when the plasma membrane fluidity was modulated by changes of temperature (27-47 degrees C) or treatment with 5% ethanol. This QS-promoted Ni2+ entry could not be amplified by other lipophilic Ca2+ antagonists, such as diltiazem (100 microM) and verapamil (100 microM). The results hence indicate that TET enhanced Ni2+ entry (or permeabilization) elicited by QS treatment, but not other perturbations of the plasma membrane. We suggest that pore formation at the plasma membrane, a consequence of QS-cholesterol interaction, can be specifically enhanced by TET. Also, a comparative study of the effects of TET and its very close analogues, hernandezine and berbamine, reveals that the methoxyl group at the R2 position of TET appears to be crucial in enhancing QS-promoted Ni2+ entry.     

The use of the hypoglycemic preparation gliquidone in patients with digestive organ diseases combined with diabetes mellitus

A peroral sugar-reducing preparation gliquidone (glurenorm) was tried in treatment of 66 patients with digestive diseases (peptic ulcer, chronic pancreatitis, cirrhosis of the liver), presenting with diabetes mellitus. The results of the studies made showed glurenorm to be a highly effective preparation in term of both its sugar-reducing effect and its capability to improve energy processes in gastric and duodenal mucosa, pancreacytes, hepatocytes, besides which, it appear to dispel metabolic disturbances and stimulate reparative processes in body organs, improves protein-synthetic processes in the liver, pancreas, mucosa of the gastroduodenal region.     

Performance analysis of bandwidth allocation strategy with state-dependent Bernoulli access and preemptive priority in wideband integrated networks

In this paper, we study a bandwidth allocation strategy with state-dependent Bernoulli access (SDBA) and preemptive priority (PP) to serve wideband (WB) and narrowband (NB) traffics in wideband integrated networks. In this strategy, total bandwidth is divided into three regions, bandwidth for WB traffic, bandwidth for NB traffic and shared bandwidth. Under this environment, the minimum usable bandwidths for queueable NB traffic are controlled adaptively according to the system states. And the bandwidths used by the NB traffic are probabilistically preempted by a blockable WB traffic, when the number of NB messages waiting in the buffer is varying. The strategy is analyzed using the Neuts' matrix analytic approach. It shows better performance than other schemes which do not use SDBA and PP. In addition, the strategy with multiple buffer thresholds controls bandwidth allocation more dynamically and shows more performance build-up than the strategy with single buffer threshold.     

A high-resolution map of genes, microsatellite markers, and new dinucleotide repeats from UBE1 to the GATA locus in the region Xp11.23

Several new genes and markers have recently been identified on the proximal short arm of the human X chromosome in the area of Xp11.23. We had previously generated a YAC contig in this region extending from UBE1 to the OATL1 locus. In this report two polymorphic dinucleotide repeats, DXS6949 and DXS6950, were isolated and characterized from the OATL1 locus. A panel of YAC deletion derivatives from the distal portion of the contig was used in conjunction with the rest of the YAC map to position the new microsatellites and order other markers localizing to this interval. The marker order was determined to be DXS1367-ZNF81-DXS6849-ZNF21-DXS6616-DXS 6950-DXS6949. In the proximal region below OATL1, we have isolated a pair of YACs from the GATA locus, B1026 and C01160. Mapping within these YACs indicates the orientation of DXS1126 and DXS1240, while a cosmid near the OATL1 region reveals the overlap between the YAC contigs from the two loci. This cosmid contains the gene responsible for Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS) and localizes the disease gene between OATL1 and GATA. These data enable the expansion of the present physical map of the X chromosome from UBE1 to the GATA locus, covering a large portion of the Xp11.23 region. Genetic cross-overs in Xp11.23 support the marker orientation and the position of WAS, contrary to previous reports. With the integration of both physical and genetic maps we have predicted the following marker order: Xpter-UBE1-SYN1/ARAF1/ TIMP1-DXS1367-ZNF81-DXS.6849-ZNF21-DXSy6616++ +-(OATL1, DXS6950-DXS6949)- WAS-(GATA, DXS1126)-DXS1240-Xcen.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

A discretized current control technique with delayed input voltagefeedback for a voltage-fed PWM inverter

A current control technique for a voltage-fed PWM inverter is presented. The discretized state equation of an inverter and a load independent of operating conditions with the delayed input voltage feedback has been derived using the averaging concept. The discretized current controller is proposed to reduce the current error as fast as possible using the deadbeat control strategy and to stabilize the closed loop system asymptotically when the variations of load parameters are given in the predetermined stabilized region. This proposed control scheme is realized by the symmetrical uniform sampling method and is easily implemented using a microprocessor-based system. Computer simulation for the proposed controller has been carried out and the results show good static and dynamic performances     

Zeolite formation in alkali-activated cementitious systems

Autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) is a unique building material. Because of its cellular nature, it is lightweight, self-insulating, sound- and fireproof, as well as insect and mold resistant. Furthermore, AAC is free of VOCs and various fibers associated with wood and glass wool construction. In an attempt to toughen AAC and make it less prone to on-site damage, a conventional fly-ash-based AAC formulation is being supplemented with sodium hydroxide (NaOH). The introduction of sufficient alkali promotes the growth of crystalline zeolites in the tobermorite matrix during autoclave curing. It is postulated that in situ grown zeolites will serve the same purpose as added fibers. Inasmuch as fly-ash-based AAC reactions often do not go to completion, a phase study of the development of tobermorite and zeolites from a gel-like slurry made from reagent grade chemicals was undertaken. Mixtures were studied as a function of time and temperature. Phase development depends on bulk composition and curing conditions. Longer curing at higher temperatures causes the Na-P1 that forms initially to change to analcime. Whereas Na-P1 is bladelike in habit and is seen to intermingle with the slightly larger blades of tobermorite, the Na-P1 gradually undergoes a phase change to analcime that forms very large cubes. This change has the potential to disrupt the AAC matrix.     

Multiplierless multilayer feedforward neural network design usingquantised neurons

An approach for designing multiplierless multilayer feedforward neural networks using quantised neurons is proposed. The design has significant merits for digital VLSI implementation in terms of reduced silicon area and increased operational speed. As compared to one-powers-of-two weights approaches of multiplierless design, the quantised neurons approach offers additional advantages of simplicity in activation function realisation and freedom in weights adaptation     

Nonlinear PID control to improve the control performance of the pneumatic artificial muscle manipulator using neural network

A novel actuator system which has achieved increased popularity to provide these advantages such as high strength and power/weight ratio, low cost, compactness, ease of maintenance, cleanliness, readily available, cheap power source, inherent safety and mobility assistance to humans performing tasks has been the utilization of the pneumatic artificial muscle (PAM) manipulator, in recent times. However, the complex nonlinear dynamics of the PAM manipulator makes it a challenging and appealing system for modeling and control design. The problems with the time variance, compliance, high hysteresis and nonlinearity of pneumatic systems have made it difficult to realize precise position control with high speed. In order to realize satisfactory control performance, the effect of nonlinear factors contained in thePAM manipulator must be considered. The purpose of this study is to improve the control performance of thePAM manipulator using a nonlinearPID controller. Superb mixture of conventionalPID controller and the neural network, which has powerful capability of learning, adaptation and tackling nonlinearity, brings us a novel nonlinearPID controller using neural network. This proposed controller is appropriate for a kind of plants with nonlinearity uncertainties and disturbances. The experiments were carried out in practicalPAM manipulator and the effectiveness of the proposed control algorithm was demonstrated through the experiments, which suggests its superior performance and disturbance rejection.