Human erythrocytes bearing electroinserted CD4 neutralize infection in vitro by primary isolates of human immunodeficiency virus type 1

Human erythrocytes bearing electroinserted full-length CD4 (RBC-CD4) can bind and fuse with a laboratory strain of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) or with T cells infected by HIV-1. Here we show that RBC-CD4 neutralize primary HIV-1 strains in an assay of cocultivation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from HIV-1-infected persons with uninfected PBMC. RBC-CD4 inhibited viral p24 core antigen accumulation in these cocultures up to 10,000-fold compared with RBC alone. Viral p24 accumulation was inhibited equally well when measured in culture supernatants or in call extracts. The inhibition was dose-dependent and long-lived. Two types of recombinant CD4 tested in parallel were largely ineffective. The neutralization of primary HIV-1 by RBC-CD4 in vitro was demonstrated in PBMC cultures from 21 of a total of 23 patients tested at two independent sites. RBC-CD4 may offer a route to blocking HIV-1 infection in vivo.     

Characterisation of sub-100 nm-MOS-transistors processed by optical lithography and a sidewall-etchback technique

This paper describes the fabrication of NMOS-transistors with a geometric gate length of down to 50 nm using conventional optical lithography and a modified sidewall-etchback process. Based on measurements the transistors are characterised and their device parameters are compared to simulations. Finally the procedures for further optimisation of the process will be explained.     

Nature of terpenoids of aTaxodioxylon gypsaceum from the fossil forest of Dunarobba (Italy)

A specimen fromt he fossil forest of Dunarobba (Central Italy) attributed toTaxodioxylon gypsaceum was chemically analyzed particularly for its terpene content. Main chemical constituents show variations related to ageing and carbonization process, while terpene content exhibits a drop of mono- and sesquiterpenes in favour of diterpenes and higher MW compounds. All components are exclusively hydrocarbons and represent alicyclic or partially aromatic structures. The identified families include abietane, phyllocladane, norabietane and norpimarane among diterpenes and traces of cadinane and selinane among sesquiterpenes.     

7.5 Gb/s monolithically integrated clock recovery circuit using PLLand 0.3-μm gate length quantum well HEMT's

A monolithically integrated clock recovery (CR) circuit making use of the phase-locked loop (PLL) circuit technique and enhancement/depletion AlGaAs/GaAs quantum well-high electron mobility transistors (QW-HEMT's) with gate lengths of 0.3 μm has been realized. A novel preprocessing circuit was used. In the PLL a fully-balanced varactorless VCO was applied. The VCO has a center oscillating frequency of about 7.7 GHz and a tuning range greater than 500 MHz. A satisfactory clock signal has been obtained at a bit rate of about 7.5 Gb/s. The power consumption is less than 200 mW at a supply voltage of -5 V     

Fabrication and characteristics of tapes and test magnets made from Ag-Clad Bi-2223 superconductors

Pb_0.4Bi_1.8Sr₂Ca_2.2Cu₃O_x (Bi-2223) precursor powder was prepared by a solid-state reaction of carbonates and oxides of lead, bismuth, strontium, calcium, and copper, and the powder was then used to fabricate silver-clad tapes by the powder-in-tube technique. Transport critical current density (J_c) values>4×10⁴ A/cm² at 77K and 2×10⁵ A/cm² at 4.2 and 27K have been achieved in short tape samples. Long lengths of tape were tested by winding them into pancake coils. Recently, we fabricated a test magnet by stacking ten pancake coils, each containing three 16m lengths of rolled tape, and tested it at 4.2, 27 and 77K. A maximum generated field of 2.6 T was measured in zero applied field at 4.2K and the test magnet generated significant self-field in background fields up to 20 T. The results are discussed in this paper.     

A 20-Gb/s silicon bipolar 1:4-demultiplexer IC

This paper presents a 20-Gb/s 1:4-demultiplexer for future fiber-optic transmission systems. It uses an 0.4-μm emitter double polysilicon 21-GHz f_T Si bipolar foundry process. This is the highest data rate of a 1:4-DEMUX reported so far in any technology. The 1:4-DEMUX features a tree-type architecture with one frequency divider and a channel switch circuit. The circuit design was carefully optimized to achieve high speed and moderate power dissipation. It consumes 1.4 W with a single -4.5-V supply     

High-power passively mode-locked semiconductor lasers

We have developed optically pumped passively mode-locked vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting lasers. We achieved as much as 950 mW of mode-locked average power in chirped 15-ps pulses, or 530 mW in 3.9-ps pulses with moderate chirp. Both lasers operate at a repetition rate of 6 GHz and have a diffraction-limited output beam near 950 nm. In continuous-wave operation, we demonstrate an average output power as high as 2.2 W. Device designs with a low thermal impedance and a smooth gain spectrum are the key to such performance. We discuss design and fabrication of the gain structures and, particularly, their thermal properties     

Impaired motor cortex inhibition in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Evidence from paired transcranial magnetic stimulation

We investigated 14 patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) by paired conditioning-test transcranial magnetic stimulation to test the hypothesis that the motor cortex is hyperexcitable in ALS. Intracortical (corticocortical) inhibition was significantly less in the ALS group than in an age-matched healthy control group (85.3 +/- 27.0% versus 45.2 +/- 15.5%, respectively; p < 0.0001). In contrast, intracortical facilitation, motor threshold, and cortical silent period duration in the ALS patients were not different from the control group. We suggest that the selective abnormality of intracortical inhibition is best compatible with an impaired function of inhibitory interneuronal circuits in the motor cortex that in turn renders the corticomotoneuron hyperexcitable.