New high-resolution positive and negative photoresist method for ?/4-shifted DFB lasers

High-resolution positive and negative photoresists were used to fabricate ?/4-phase-shifted corrugations by holographic exposure. To avoid mixing these photoresists, cyclised polyisoprene was used as a midlayer. The shape and depth of the corrugations on the positive and negative photoresist regions were almost the same. Single-mode operation at the Bragg wavelength was confirmed in lasers with the corrugation.     

Edge-to-edge interfaces in Ti?Al modeled with the embedded atom method

The atomistic structure and energies of high-index interphase boundaries are explored using a combination of molecular statics and dynamics simulations with embedded atom potentials. We investigate planar boundaries between the α₂ and γ phases in the Ti−Al system. The class of boundaries considered has a high-index boundary orientation; the orientation relationship between the α₂ and γ phases also is high index, and a set of planes from each phase meet edge to edge at the boundary plane. For the particular case of a boundary that is commensurate in one direction and coincides with a moiré plane given by the so-called “Δg” diffraction condition, the boundary is not structurally singular, but it is energetically stable and does not appear to dissociate into other low-energy configurations. Misfit compensating defects are not observed; misfit in directions other than the commensurate one appears to be distributed uniformly. The boundary energy is evaluated as a function of the orientation of the boundary plane, and the edge-to-edge (moiré) boundary is found to lie in an energy cusp. This article is based on a presentation made in the “Hume-Rothery Symposium on Structure and Diffusional Growth Mechanisms of Irrational Interphase Boundaries,” which occurred during the TMS Winter meeting, March 15–17, 2004, in Charlotte, NC, under the auspices of the TMS Alloy Phases Committee and the co-sponsorship of the TMS-ASM Phase Transformations Committee.     

Metric-based reasoning about pseudocode design in the partial metrics system

The goal of the PMS project is to produce an environment in which the intelligent online assessment of the design for large-scale ADA programming projects is provided. The focus is on the representation of knowledge about the design process for an individual module. Changes in pseudocode complexity are measured in terms of partial metrics. These metrics can take the designers inferences about the pseudocode program structure into account when assessing module complexity. Next, a model of the stepwise refinement process is given which demonstrates how pseudocode elaboration decisions can be modelled in partial metric terms. Finally, the decisions associated with each refinement step for 17 example refinements taken from the computer science literature are described using partial metrics.     

The human homologue of yeast CRM1 is in a dynamic subcomplex with CAN/Nup214 and a novel nuclear pore component Nup88

The oncogenic nucleoporin CAN/Nup214 is essential in vertebrate cells. Its depletion results in defective nuclear protein import, inhibition of messenger RNA export and cell cycle arrest. We recently found that CAN associates with proteins of 88 and 112 kDa, which we have now cloned and characterized. The 88 kDa protein is a novel nuclear pore complex (NPC) component, which we have named Nup88. Depletion of CAN from the NPC results in concomitant loss of Nup88, indicating that the localization of Nup88 to the NPC is dependent on CAN binding. The 112 kDa protein is the human homologue of yeast CRM1, a protein known to be required for maintenance of correct chromosome structure. This human CRM1 (hCRM1) localized to the NPC as well as to the nucleoplasm. Nuclear overexpression of the FG-repeat region of CAN, containing its hCRM1-interaction domain, resulted in depletion of hCRM1 from the NPC. In CAN-/- mouse embryos lacking CAN, hCRM1 remained in the nuclear envelope, suggesting that this protein can also bind to other repeat-containing nucleoporins. Lastly, hCRM1 shares a domain of significant homology with importin-beta, a cytoplasmic transport factor that interacts with nucleoporin repeat regions. We propose that hCRM1 is a soluble nuclear transport factor that interacts with the NPC.     

The Locus of Redundant-Targets and Nontargets Effects: Evidence From the Psychological Refractory Period Paradigm.

In target detection tasks, responses are faster when displays have 2 targets (redundant-targets effect; RTE) and slower when they have no targets (nontargets effect; NTE) relative to displays with a single target. The psychological refractory period paradigm was used to localize these effects. In Experiment 1, participants classified tones as high or low and then classified letters as targets or nontargets after a short or long stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA). The magnitudes of the RTE and NTE did not depend on SOA. In Experiment 2, the order of the tasks was reversed, and at short SOAs the RTE and NTE had similar magnitudes for both tone discrimination and target detection responses. These findings suggest that the RTE and NTE arise during response selection. Interactive effects of tone pitch with the number and type of target features were also observed, and these were tentatively interpreted as synesthetic effects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparison of PF4/heparin ELISA assay with the 14C-serotonin release assay in the diagnosis of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia

The diagnosis of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) may be affirmed by demonstrating heparin-dependent anti-platelet antibodies using the 14C-serotonin release assay (SRA). In this study, results of the SRA was compared with the recently described platelet factor 4 (PF4)/heparin enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Compared with the SRA, the sensitivity and specificity of a PF4/heparin ELISA was 87% and 92%, respectively, using an assay developed in our laboratory; and 90% and 98%, respectively, using a commercially developed kit (Diagnostica Stago, Asnieres, France). However, antibodies to PF4/heparin were also detected in up to 8% of patients whose plasma was negative by SRA, and 23% of patients receiving heparin who were not thrombocytopenic. These data indicate that results obtained with the PF4/heparin ELISA and the SRA are generally in accord in patients with a clinical diagnosis of HIT. However, discrepant results occur in approximately 20% of cases because of the greater sensitivity of ELISA and the possible involvement of other heparin-binding proteins. The fact that each assay contributes independent information in some cases must be considered in the sequence of test performance and in providing consultation to the practicing hematologist.     

Travelling-wave photodetectors with 172-GHz bandwidth and 76-GHzbandwidth-efficiency product

Results of the first fabrication and measurement of travelling-wave photodetectors are reported. The devices have bandwidths as high as 172 GHz, the highest reported for a p-i-n photodetector, and bandwidth-efficiency products as large as 76 GHz, the largest reported for any photodetector without gain. Comparisons with vertically illuminated and waveguide photodetectors fabricated on the same wafer establish the superior performance of travelling-wave photodetectors. Microwave loss on the travelling-wave photodetector structure is identified as a bandwidth limitation