A Low-Power CMOS Linear-in-Decibel Variable Gain Amplifier With Programmable Bandwidth and Stable Group Delay

This brief presents a new circuit architecture for linear-in-decibel, constant-bandwidth variable gain amplifier (VGA). To obtain high linearity under low-voltage operation, this VGA is a closed-loop structure. In loop amplifier design, two techniques are applied: first, the loop amplifier is given finite input impedance. This arrangement keeps the VGA bandwidth constant under different gain setting. Second, a current-buffered compensation is applied for loop stability. Compared to the Miller compensation, this method achieves wider bandwidth. The prototype chip using 0.18-mum CMOS technology demonstrates that -10- to 20-dB gain and 0.5- to 30-MHz bandwidth can be programmed independently. The group delay difference within 30-dB gain control range is smaller than 1%. The total circuit dissipates 1.35 mA from a 1.8-V supply     

Effect of deformation route on microstructural development in aluminum processed by equal channel angular extrusion

Aluminum has been deformed by equal channel angular extrusion (ECAE) to obtain submicron-grained structures under different deformation routes. The deformation routes were varied by rotating billets through 0, 90, and 180 deg between each extrusion pass, and were designated as route A, B_C, and C, respectively. Based on quantitative microstructural analysis, the effectiveness of the deformation route is shown to depend upon the different definition used. The order of effectiveness is (a) A > B_C > C for both 90 and 120 deg dies, in terms of the generation of high-angle grain boundaries (HAGBs); (b) B_C > C > A for both 90 and 120 deg dies, in terms of the formation of equiaxed shape of grains; and (c) B_C > A > C for 90 deg die and B_C ∼ A > C for 120 die, in terms of reducing grain size. It is suggested that the generation of HAGBs can be related to the accumulation of nonredundant strain, while the shape and orientation of grains may be linked to the shearing patterns of the deformation route.     

Characterization of arylamine N-acetyltransferase in Enterobacter aerogenes

N-acetyltransferase (NAT) activity was determined by incubation of purified Enterobacter aerogenes enzyme with 2-aminofluorene (2-AF) as the substrate, followed by high pressure liquid chromatography assays. The NAT activity from E. aerogenes was 0.58 +/- 0.08 nmol/min/mg protein for 2-AF. The values of apparent K(m) and Vmax were 0.72 +/- 0.14 mM and 2.45 +/- 0.29 nmol/min/mg protein, respectively, for 2-AF. The optimal pH value for the enzyme activity was 7.5 for the 2-AF tested. The optimal temperature for enzyme activity was 37 degrees C for the 2-AF substrate. The molecular weight of NAT from E. aerogenes was 44.9 kD. Among a series of divalent cations and salts, Zn2+, Ca2+, and Fe2+ were demonstrated to be the most potent protease inhibitors, and only ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid significantly protected the NAT. Iodoacetamide, in contrast to other agents, markedly inhibited NAT.     

Utilizing an Animal Model to Identify Brain Neurodegeneration-Related Biomarkers in Aging

Glycine N-methyltransferase (GNMT) regulates S-adenosylmethionine (SAMe), a methyl donor in methylation. Over-expressed SAMe may cause neurogenic capacity reduction and memory impairment. GNMT knockout mice (GNMT-KO) was applied as an experimental model to evaluate its effect on neurons. In this study, proteins from brain tissues were studied using proteomic approaches, Haemotoxylin and Eosin staining, immunohistochemistry, Western blotting, and ingenuity pathway analysis. The expression of Receptor-interacting protein 1(RIPK1) and Caspase 3 were up-regulated and activity-dependent neuroprotective protein (ADNP) was down-regulated in GNMT-KO mice regardless of the age. Besides, proteins related to neuropathology, such as excitatory amino acid transporter 2, calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase type II subunit alpha, and Cu-Zn superoxide dismutase were found only in the group of aged wild-type mice; 4-aminobutyrate amino transferase, limbic system-associated membrane protein, sodium- and chloride-dependent GABA transporter 3 and ProSAAS were found only in the group of young GNMT-KO mice and are related to function of neurons; serum albumin and Rho GDP dissociation inhibitor 1 were found only in the group of aged GNMT-KO mice and are connected to neurodegenerative disorders. With proteomic analyses, a pathway involving Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) signal was found to be associated with aging. The GnRH pathway could provide additional information on the mechanism of aging and non-aging related neurodegeneration, and these protein markers may be served in developing future therapeutic treatments to ameliorate aging and prevent diseases.     

A Dual Physical Cross-Linking Strategy to Construct Tough Hydrogels with High Strength,Excellent Fatigue Resistance,and Stretching-Induced Strengthening Effect

Hydrogels with excellent stiffness, toughness, anti-fatigue, and self-recovery properties are regarded as promising water-containing materials. In this work, a dual physically cross-linked (DPC) sodium alginate (SA)/poly[acrylamide (AAm)-acrylic acid (AAc)-octadecyl methacrylate (OMA)]-Fe³⁺ hydrogel is reported, which is constructed by hydrophobic association (HA) and ionic coordination (IC). The optimal DPC hydrogel demonstrates excellent mechanical performance: tensile modulus of 0.65 MPa, tensile strength of 3.31 MPa, elongation at break of 1547%, and toughness of 27.8 MJ m^–3. SA/P(AAm-AAc-OMA)-Fe³⁺ DPC hydrogels also exhibit prominent anti-fatigue and self-recovery performance (99.1–109.7% modulus recovery and 90.4–108.9% dissipated energy recovery after resting for 5 min without additional stimuli at ambient temperature) through the reconstruction of reversible physical cross-linking. Some of the SA/P(AAm-AAc-OMA)-Fe³⁺ DPC hydrogels even exhibit a stretching-induced strengthening effect, which is similar to the performance of muscle—“the more training, the more strength.” Hence, the combination of HA and IC will provide an effective approach to design DPC hydrogels with desirable mechanical performances and a longer service life for wider applications of soft materials.     

Optimal process conditions of shrinkage and warpage of thin‐wall parts

Optimal process conditions of thin‐wall injection molding of a cellular phone cover were investigated with the consideration of interaction effects between process parameters. L₂₇ experimental tests based on Taguchi's method were performed, and then Cyclone Scanner, PolyCAD and PolyWorks were used to measure the shrinkage and warpage of the thin‐wall injected parts to determine the optimal process conditions. Based on the results of the analysis of variables and the F‐test, interaction effects for each observed factor were determined. The results indicated that the packing pressure was the most important process parameter affecting the shrinkage and warpage of the thin‐wall part. The optimal process conditions were different for the shrinkage and the warpage. This was because during the injection process, the mechanisms affecting shrinkage or warpage were different. Compared with the results obtained with simplified thin‐wall parts in the literature, it was found that the geometry of a real commercial part did affect the optimal process conditions and the order of influence of process parameters. The optimal process conditions determined by Taguchi's method for reducing the shrinkage and warpage were verified experimentally in this work. Polym. Eng. Sci. 44:917–928, 2004. © 2004 Society of Plastics Engineers.     

Manipulating the microstructure and rheology in polymer‐organoclay composites

A series of nanocomposites prepared by melt‐blending of cloisite‐based organoclays with poly(ethylene‐vinylacetate) (EVA) and neutralized poly (ethylene‐methacrylic acid) (EMA) copolymers were investigated via DSC, small‐angle X‐ray scattering (SAXS), and rheological techniques. SAXS results indicated partial clay exfoliation in all samples. In both EMA and EVA systems, the nominal melting temperature T_m and bulk crystallinity are not significantly affected by the presence of organoclays, suggesting that clay particles are predominantly confined in the amorphous phase. In rheological measurements (above T_m), the EVA‐clay system demonstrated a solid‐like rheological behavior under the small‐strain oscillatory shear, yet it was able to yield and flow under a steady shear, which is the characteristic of physical crosslinking. In contrast, the EMA‐clay system exhibited a melt‐like rheological behavior, where the influence of organoclay on the thermorheological behavior of the EMA composite was quite minimal. We propose that the carbonyl groups of vinylacetate in EVA interact with the clay surface, resulting in a strong physically crosslinking like interaction in the melt. On the other hand, the interaction between EMA and clay is weak because of repulsion between carboxyl anions and negatively charged clay surface.     

Dual-responsive shape memory hydrogels with self-healing and dual-responsive swelling behaviors

Shape memory hydrogels (SMHs) can fix the hydrogels in a provisional shape and restore the initial shape under external stimulation. Herein, a dual-responsive shape memory hydrogel with dual-responsive swelling and self-healing properties is presented in this work. The SMHs were fabricated by one-step emulsion copolymerization of acrylic acid (AAc), acrylamide (AAm) and stearyl methacrylate (SMA). Sodium alginate (SA) was introduced as an interpenetrating polymer in the network. With ionic cross-linking between -COO⁻ and Fe³⁺ or saline-reinforced hydrophobic association, the hydrogels can be fixed in a provisional shape, which can be restored by immersing the hydrogels in vitamin C solution or pure water, respectively. When the as-prepared hydrogels were immersed in FeCl₃ solutions, additional ionic cross-linking between Fe³⁺ and -COO⁻ could be formed, thus constructing the dual physically cross-linked (DPC) network, which endows the hydrogels with excellent fracture stress (2.6 MPa) and toughness (5.47 MJ/m³). Besides, the reversible physical cross-linkings endowed the hydrogel with outstanding self-healing capability. Furthermore, the pH and saline responsive swelling properties of the SMHs are additional fantastic properties. Therefore, we believe that this simple strategy provides a great opportunity for the preparation of SMHs with multiple intellectual performances.     

Robust image hashing using non-uniform sampling in discrete Fourier domain

This paper proposes a robust image hashing method in discrete Fourier domain that can be applied in such fields as image authentication and retrieval. In the pre-processing stage, image resizing and total variation based filtering are first used to regularize the input image. Then the secondary image is obtained by the rotation projection, and the robust frequency feature is extracted from the secondary image after discrete Fourier transform. More sampling points are chosen from the low- and middle-frequency component to represent the salient content of the image effectively, which is achieved by the non-uniform sampling. Finally, the intermediate sampling feature vectors are scrambled and quantized to produce the resulting binary hash securely. The security of the method depends entirely on the secret key. Experiments are conducted to show that the present method has satisfactory robustness against perceptual content-preserving manipulations and has also very low probability for collision of the hashes of distinct images.     

Shearing interferometer with a Kitty self-pumped phase-conjugate mirror

A shearing interferometer with a Kitty-type self-pumped phase-conjugate mirror is developed. The measurement of the focal length of a lens is demonstrated with a standard deviation of 1.5%. In addition, we measured the microdisplacement in the range of tens of micrometers with an error less than 2% by using the interferometer.