Uncharged S4 residues and cooperativity in voltage-dependent potassium channel activation

The purpose of this study was to investigate psychological testing features of children and adolescents with dissociative disorder diagnoses to provide diagnostic information that might facilitate early intervention. The psychological testing protocols of 30 children diagnosed with dissociative disorders were compared with the testing protocols of 30 consecutive admissions to the Sheppard Pratt Hospital who did not receive a dissociative identity disorder (DID; formerly termed multiple personality disorder) or dissociative disorder not otherwise specified (DDNOS) diagnosis. A rater, blind to the diagnosis, scored these protocols for the presence or absence of behavioral and testing response variables hypothesized to discriminate between the dissociative patients and the mixed group of other diagnoses. Behavioral features significantly more common in the dissociative group included forgetting, staring, unusual motor behaviors, dramatic fluctuations, fearful and angry reactions to stimuli, physical complaints during testing, and expressions of internal conflict. Significant indications of dissociation in the test responses included images of multiplicity, malevolent religiosity, dissociative coping, depersonalized imagery, emotional confusion, extreme dichotomization, images of mutilation and torture, and magical transformation. A combination of these behavioral and response variables was able to select 93% of the dissociative sample. These results add support to the discriminant validity of DID and DDNOS as diagnostic categories in childhood and provide clinical information that may be useful for early diagnosis of traumatized children with dissociative pathology.     

Q-switched semiconductor diode lasers

Diode lasers with an intracavity electroabsorption modulator have been operated with full on/off modulation at rates of 3 GHz. In addition, modulation of the lasers has been shown up to a detector-limited frequency of 6 GHz. A new model of these devices, which includes amplified spontaneous emission and high gain is developed in this paper. A quasi-static gain approximation is introduced and the dynamics of the electron and photon population are modeled by three coupled nonlinear difference equations which can be numerically solved with very little computation time. The model predicts the possibility of a new mode ofQ-switched operation with the capacity for repetition rates of tens of gigahertz and binary pulse position modulation at rates of the order of 10 Gbits/s.     

Parallel vector processing of multidimensional orthogonal transforms for digital signal processing applications

This paper presents vector and parallel algorithms and implementations of one- and two-dimensional orthogonal transforms. The speed performances are evaluated on Cray X-MP/48 vector computer. The sinusoidal orthogonal transforms are computed using fast real Fourier transform (FFT) kernel. The non-sinusoidal orthogonal transform algorithms are derived by using direct factorizations of transform matrices. Concurrent processing is achieved by using the multitasking capability of Cray X-MP/48 to transform long data vectors and two-dimensional data vectors. The discrete orthogonal transforms discussed in this paper include: Fourier transform (DFT), cosine transform (DCT), sine transform (DST), Hartley transform (DHT), Walsh transform (DWHT) and Hadamard transform (DHDT). The factors affecting the speedup of vector and parallel processing of these transforms are considered. The vectorization techniques are illustrated by an FFT example.This work is supported in part by the National Science Foundation, Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center (grant number ECS-880012P) and by the PEW Science Education Program.     

High performance of Fe:InP/InGaAs metal/semiconductor/metalphotodetectors grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy

An InGaAs metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) photodetector with an Fe-doped InP Schottky barrier enhancement layer is described. With 5-V bias, the detector has negligible low-frequency gain, a low dark current of 200 nA, a responsivity of 0.3 A/W, and an impulse response with a 1/ e fall time of 65 ps, corresponding to a 3 dB bandwidth of 2.5 GHz. The device layer structure is a very attractive candidate for integration with high-performance InGaAs/InP FETs