A logic nanotechnology featuring strained-silicon

Strained-silicon (Si) is incorporated into a leading edge 90-nm logic technology . Strained-Si increases saturated n-type and p-type metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) drive currents by 10 and 25%, respectively. The process flow consists of selective epitaxial Si/sub 1-x/Ge/sub x/ in the source/drain regions to create longitudinal uniaxial compressive strain in the p-type MOSFET. A tensile Si nitride-capping layer is used to introduce tensile uniaxial strain into the n-type MOSFET and enhance electron mobility. Unlike past strained-Si work: 1) the amount of strain for the n-type and p-type MOSFET can be controlled independently on the same wafer and 2) the hole mobility enhancement in this letter is present at large vertical electric fields, thus, making this flow useful for nanoscale transistors in advanced logic technologies.     

Reaching to ipsilateral or contralateral targets: within-hemisphere visuomotor processing cannot explain hemispatial differences in motor control

Aiming movements made to visual targets on the same side of the body as the reaching hand typically show advantages as compared to aiming movements made to targets on the opposite side of the body midline in the contralateral visual field. These advantages for ipsilateral reaches include shorter reaction time, higher peak velocity, shorter duration and greater endpoint accuracy. It is commonly hypothesized that such advantages are related to the efficiency of intrahemispheric processing, since, for example, a left-sided target would be initially processed in the visual cortex of the right hemisphere and that same hemisphere controls the motor output to the left hand. We tested this hypothesis by examining the kinematics of aiming movements made by 26 right-handed subjects to visual targets briefly presented in either the left or the right visual field. In one block of trials, the subjects aimed their finger directly towards the target; in the other block, subjects were required to aim their movement to the mirror symmetrical position on the opposite side of the fixation light from the target. For the three kinematic measures in which hemispatial differences were obtained (peak velocity, duration and percentage of movement time spent in deceleration), the advantages were related to the side to which the motor response was directed and not to the side where the target was presented. In addition, these effects tended to be larger in the right hand than in the left, particularly for the percentage of the movement time spent in deceleration. The results are interpreted in terms of models of biomechanical constraints on contralateral movements, which are independent of the hemispace of target presentation.     

Oral glucocorticosteroid-sparing effect of budesonide administered by Turbuhaler: a double-blind, placebo-controlled study in adults with moderate-to-severe chronic asthma. Pulmicort Turbuhaler Study Group

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the correlation between alteration in telomere length and prognosis in patients with pathological stage I-II non-small cell lung cancer. We measured telomeric repeat length and telomerase activity by use of southern blot analysis of terminal restriction fragments and a non-radioactive ELISA-based assay, respectively. RESULTS: Alterations in TRF lengths were present in 17(29.8%) of 57 patients. Patients with altered TRF length had significantly shorter survival than did patients without (P = 0.0051). In multivariate analysis, only alteration in TRF length independently correlated with shortened survival (P = 0.0033).     

Functional rescue of the sarcoglycan complex in the BIO 14.6 hamster using delta-sarcoglycan gene transfer

Four types of limb-girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD) are known to be caused by mutations in distinct sarcoglycan genes. The BIO 14.6 hamster is a model for sarcoglycan-deficient LGMD with a deletion in the delta-sarcoglycan (delta-SG) gene. We investigated the function of the sarcoglycan complex and the feasibility of sarcoglycan gene transfer for LGMD using a recombinant delta-SG adenovirus in the BIO 14.6 hamster. We demonstrate extensive long-term expression of delta-sarcoglycan and rescue of the entire sarcoglycan complex, as well as restored stable association of alpha-dystroglycan with the sarcolemma. Importantly, muscle fibers expressing delta-sarcoglycan lack morphological markers of muscular dystrophy and exhibit restored plasma membrane integrity. In summary, the sarcoglycan complex is requisite for the maintenance of sarcolemmal integrity, and primary mutations in individual sarcoglycan components can be corrected in vivo.     

Evidence for regulation of cartilage differentiation by the homeobox gene Hoxc-8

Homeobox genes of the Hox class are required for proper patterning of skeletal elements, but how they regulate the differentiation of specific tissues is unclear. We show here that overexpression of a Hoxc-8 transgene causes cartilage defects whose severity depends on transgene dosage. The abnormal cartilage is characterized by an accumulation of proliferating chondrocytes and reduced maturation. Since Hoxc-8 is normally expressed in chondrocytes, these results suggest that Hoxc-8 continues to regulate skeletal development well beyond pattern formation in a tissue-specific manner, presumably by controlling the progression of cells along the chondrocyte differentiation pathway. The comparison to Hoxd-4 and Isl-1 indicates that this role in chondrogenesis is specific to proteins of the Hox class. Their capacity for regulation of cartilage differentiation suggests that Hox genes could also be involved in human chondrodysplasias or other cartilage disorders.     

Obtaining minimum-correlation Latin Hypercube Sampling plans using an IP-based heuristic

The objective of Latin Hypercube Sampling is to determine an effective procedure for sampling from a (possibly correlated) multivariate population to estimate the distribution function (or at least a significant number of moments) of a complicated function of its variables. The typical application involves a computer-based model in which it is largely impossible to find a way (closed form or numerical) to do the necessary transformation of variables and where it is expensive to run in terms of computing resources and time. Classical approaches to hypercube sampling have used sophisticated stratified sampling techniques; but such sampling may provide incorrect measures of the output parameters' variances or covariances due to correlation between the sampling pairs. In this work, we offer a strategy which provides a sampling specification minimizing the sum of the absolute values of the pairwise differences between the true and sampled correlation pairs. We show that optimal plans can be obtained for even small sample sizes. We consider the characteristics of permutation matrices which minimize the sum of correlations between column pairs and then present an effective heuristic for solution. This heuristic generally finds plans which match the correlation structure exactly. When it does not, we provide a hybrid lagrangian/heuristic method, which empirically has found the optimal solution for all cases tested.This article was processed by the author using the LAT_EX style filepljour2 from Springer-Verlag.     

Oxidation of exogenous [13C]galactose and [13C]glucose during exercise

The present study examined the oxidation of exogenous galactose or glucose during prolonged submaximal cycling exercise. Eight highly trained volunteers exercised on two occasions on a cycle ergometer at 65% of maximal workload for 120 min, followed by a 60-min rest period and a second exercise bout of 30 min at 60% maximal workload. At random, subjects ingested a 8% galactose solution to which an [1-13C]galactose tracer was added or a 8% glucose solution to which an [U-13C]glucose tracer was added. Drinks were provided at the end of the warm-up period (8 ml/kg) and every 15 min (2 ml/kg) during the first 120 min of the test. Blood and breath samples were collected every 30 and 15 min, respectively, during the test. The exogenous carbohydrate (CHO) oxidation was calculated from the 13CO2/12CO2 ratio and CO2 production of the expired air. Peak exogenous CHO oxidation during exercise for galactose and glucose was 0.41 +/- 0.03 and 0.85 +/- 0.04 g/min, respectively. Total CHO and fat oxidation were not significantly different between the treatments. Forty-six percent of the ingested glucose was oxidized, whereas only 21% of the ingested galactose was oxidized. As a consequence, more endogenous CHO was utilized with galactose than with glucose (124.4 +/- 6.7 and 100.1 +/- 3.6 g, respectively). These results indicate that the oxidation rate of orally ingested galactose is maximally approximately 50% of the oxidation rate of a comparable amount of orally ingested glucose during 120 min of exercise.     

Expression of p53 in reactive mesothelium

An arteriovenous fistula originating from halfway down the circumflex coronary artery, draining into the coronary sinus was first diagnosed in a patient of 81. For 10 years, she had had dyspnea on exertion, mild mitral regurgitation and permanent ventricular pacing for symptomatic bradyarrhythmia. She was treated medically and despite her age was offered transcatheter balloon embolization, but she refused to undergo such intervention.