Chip layout design of a Josephson LSI circuit for examininghigh-speed operability by using a standard cell automatic placement androuting technique

A chip layout design technique for a high-speed Josephson LSI circuit using an automatic placement and routing technique with a standard cell method has been developed. A chip layout design of a Josephson LSI circuit with 1500 gates for examining high-speed operability with a 1 GHz clock frequency has been successfully obtained. Related to high-frequency power on a high-speed Josephson LSI circuit, a dividing method for a circuit and a balancing method for power loads are proposed     

On longitudinal and transverse variations of the bed shear stress on the wetted perimeter of a sloped rectangular open channel in a hydraulic jump

Summary This paper is concerned with longitudinal and transverse variations of the sear stress on the wetted perimeter of a sloped rectangular open channel in a hydraulic jump. It is found that the locus of the maximum bed shear stress upstream and downstream of the hydraulic jump indicates a clear meandering tendency. That is, the meandering locus of the maximum bed shear stress appears whether the flow is supercritical or subcritical. In the jump region, the locus almost follows the central axis of the channel, and the amplitude and wave-length are very small. However, downstream of the jump region the locus of the maximum bed shear stress starts meandering, and the amplitude and wave-length vary in an irregular manner.     

A case-based construction method for a fault-restoration support system in secondary power systems

The authors have already clarified that case-based reasoning (CBR) is very useful for the fault-restoration support system in electrical power networks. This paper describes the case-based construction method, adaptation and modification method of a case which is a fundamental process of CBR, and the results of evaluation. The following points were clarified through the simulations of fault restoration under various conditions with electrical power networks of practical scale: (1) a case-based construction method and the guide to the selection of cases which should be included in the case were made clear. Restoration plans which include many cases are registered in the base. Cases which would require long computation time are also registered in the case base. In the application which requires high-speed processing, such as fault restoration, there exists an optimum value in the total numbers of cases in the case base; (2) the function of load switching which is essential to perform adaptation and modification of a case flexibly was studied and embedded in the system herein. Inference power was augmented by the implemented of this function, and optimum for suboptimum solutions were obtained. Processing time with CBR is considerably shorter than other methods, and this feature is remarkable with complicated cases.     

Morphological changes of wide polyoxymethylene rod during a microwave heating drawing process

The microwave heating drawing process for producing a polyoxymethylene (POM) rod (2.5 mm in diameter) with a sonic modulus of 40 GPa has been analysed by investigating the changes in both orientation and thermal properties during drawing. During the initial crystalline deformation in the necking region, the lamellae are oriented perpendicular to the draw direction and are then unfolded into microfibrils. The crystalline orientation function reaches a high value (0.988) at a draw ratio of 6 immediately after necking. In the advanced ultra-drawing stage, the Young modulus increases gradually with increasing amorphous orientation. At the same time, the orientation distribution in the radial direction is caused by the temperature distribution induced in the radial direction of the rod. It is noted that fine adjustments of ambient temperature and microwave power are required to get ultra-high-modulus POM rods over 40 GPa with large crosssections.     

Sparse distribution of NADPH diaphorase neurons in the hippocampal formation of the inbred mutant strain EL mouse

The number of NADPH diaphorase-positive cells in the CA1/CA2 and CA3 regions of Ammon's horn and the subiculum of the hippocampal formation of EL mice, an inbred mutant strain of the ddY mouse susceptible to convulsive seizures, was fewer than that of ddY mice. These findings suggest that smaller numbers of nitric oxide producing cells in the hippocampal formations of EL mice is related to their susceptibility to convulsive seizures.     

Expression of Fos in the rat forebrain following experimental tooth movement

Orthodontic tooth movement is known to cause pain and discomfort to patients. Mechanically induced inflammatory responses in the periodontium are assumed to be related to the mechanism of pain sensation. An immediate-early gene, c-fos, that is expressed within some neurons following synaptic activation, is widely used as a marker for neuronal activity following noxious or innocuous stimulation. We have recently demonstrated that experimental tooth movement produced Fos induction in the ipsilateral trigeminal subnucleus caudalis and in the bilateral lateral parabrachial nucleus, which is known to be involved in the transmission of nociceptive information. As a further step, we investigated the distribution of Fos-like immunoreactive neurons in the upper brain regions. Twenty-four hours after the commencement of the experimental tooth movement, the Fos-like immunoreactive neurons appeared in the central nucleus of the amygdala (Ce), paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVH), and paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus (PV) of the experimental rats. The numbers of the labeled neurons were significantly increased by 639% (P < 0.001) and 644% (P < 0.001) in the ipsilateral and contralateral sides of the Ce, respectively, by 292% (P < 0.001) and 307% (P < 0.001) in the ipsilateral and contralateral sides of the PVH, and by 264% (P < 0.0001) in the PV with respect to sham control rats. These results suggest that nociceptive information caused by experimental tooth movement might be transmitted and modulated in several regions of the forebrain.     

Urocortin, a newly identified corticotropin-releasing factor-related mammalian peptide, stimulates atrial natriuretic peptide and brain natriuretic peptide secretions from neonatal rat cardiomyocytes

Vanadate stimulates adipocyte 2-deoxyglucose transport and GLUT-4 translocation to the membrane through an insulin receptor-independent but wortmannin-inhibitable pathway. Vanadate stimulates PI 3-kinase in anti-IRS-1 immunoprecipitates and the binding between IRS-1 and the p85alpha subunit of PI 3-kinase. In insulin-resistant adipocytes from old rats vanadate fully stimulates IRS-1-associated PI 3-kinase, but partially activates glucose uptake. We conclude that: (a) vanadate stimulates 2-deoxyglucose uptake using a pathway that converges with that of insulin at the level of PI 3-kinase; and (b) adipocytes from old rats are defective in the insulin pathway at steps located both upstream and downstream of PI 3-kinase.     

Impulse dispersion in a tapered granular chain

 This paper describes a unique way to disperse an impulse in granular material. A number of chrome steel balls are arranged in a chain formation with monotonically decreasing size. The incoming impulse is received by the largest ball at one end and propagates through the chain. Due to translation symmetry breaking, the classical solitary wave known to develop in a chain of particles of the same size quickly lose its signature, disperses itself throughout the balls in the chain, and finally manifests itself as a collection of smaller impulses. This paper presents experimental confirmation of this mechanism and a comparison with recent theoretical predictions of impulse dispersion in a chain of hard inelastic spheres. Some discrepancies with theory are interpreted in terms of energy transfer to rotational degrees of freedom. Received: 29 August 2002     

A combined model of oriented nucleation and selective growth for the recrystallization of interstitial-free steels

A combined model of oriented nucleation and selective growth is proposed to describe primary recrystallization in interstitial-free (IF) steels. The model includes oriented nucleation at high Taylor-factor orientations together with orientation transformations (OTs) about selected 〈110〉 axes over a misorientation range that includes the Σ9, Σl 1, Σ19a, and Σ33a type coincidence site lattice (CSL) relationships. It is shown that only one or two of the six possible 〈110〉 rotation axes operate in a given grain and at a particular grain boundary. These are the ones closest to the maximum shear stress (MSS) poles for cold rolling. The present study suggests that IF steels display particularly sharp textures (compared to plain C steels), because the factors that favor the selection of the trans-formation axes and the more rapid growth of CSL boundaries operate more effectively in these materials.     

A prospective study of prognostic value of type IV collagenase activity in colorectal cancer tissue

The purpose of this prospective study was to evaluate the prognostic value of the type IV collagenase (IVase) activity in colorectal cancer tissue on disease-free and overall survival in 31 colorectal cancer patients. The clinicopathologic factors studied for prognostic value were age, tumor location, tumor differentiation, preoperative serum levels of carcinoembryonic antigen, Dukes' stage, and IVase activity in colorectal cancer tissue. IVase activities in colorectal cancer tissue were significantly higher in the group of patients with recurrences than in the group without recurrences (P = 0.019). Patients with high IVase activity in colorectal cancer tissue had a significantly shorter disease-free survival (P = 0.0016) and overall survival (P = 0.022) time than those with low IVase activity. Univariate and multivariate analysis showed that significant prognostic factors for disease-free survival were Dukes' stage (P = 0.029, P = 0.046, respectively) and IVase activity status (P = 0.0016, P = 0.0026, respectively). With respect to overall survival, only IVase activity status provided significant predictive value in multivariate analysis (P = 0.041). This prospective study suggests that IVase activity is a valuable prognostic factor in colorectal cancer patients.