Proteomics in diabetic nephropathy

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is currently one of the principal causes of end stage renal disease (ESRD). Approximately 40% of all diabetic patients eventually develop diabetic nephropathy (DN). The complexity of diabetes and its complications require a broad-based, unbiased, scientific approach, such as proteomics, in order to understand the progression of DN. Proteomic techniques have been applied extensively to explore the complexity of the mechanisms associated with DN, and to identify novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets. This review provides insights into how proteomics can be applied to DN, and how experimental data can be linked to clinical applications. In addition, recent proteome studies of DN are summarized. The rapid rate of development of the relevant technologies, along with the combination of classic physiological and biochemical techniques with proteomics will facilitate new discoveries.     

Dynamic diamond anvil cell (dDAC): a novel device for studying the dynamic-pressure properties of materials

We have developed a unique device, a dynamic diamond anvil cell (dDAC), which repetitively applies a time-dependent load/pressure profile to a sample. This capability allows studies of the kinetics of phase transitions and metastable phases at compression (strain) rates of up to 500 GPa/s (approximately 0.16 s(-1) for a metal). Our approach adapts electromechanical piezoelectric actuators to a conventional diamond anvil cell design, which enables precise specification and control of a time-dependent applied load/pressure. Existing DAC instrumentation and experimental techniques are easily adapted to the dDAC to measure the properties of a sample under the varying load/pressure conditions. This capability addresses the sparsely studied regime of dynamic phenomena between static research (diamond anvil cells and large volume presses) and dynamic shock-driven experiments (gas guns, explosive, and laser shock). We present an overview of a variety of experimental measurements that can be made with this device.     

Anionic synthesis of ω-1,1-diphenylethylene-terminated polystyrene macromonomers. Rational synthesis of ABC hetero three-armed-star-branched polymers

Summary Polystyrene macromonomers with terminal 1,1-diphenylethylene functionality were prepared by the reaction of one equivalent of poly(styryl)lithium with 1,4-bis (l-phenylethenyl)benzene (PDDPE). The macromonomer functionalities were determined by ¹H NMR [(vinyl CH₂)=5.4 ppm] and UV spectroscopy (_max=260 nm). The stoichiometric linking reaction of poly(styryl)lithium (M_n=15.3x10³ g/mol) with an -1,1-diphenylethylene-terminated polystyrene macromonomer (M_n=5.4x10³ g/mol) followed by addition of styrene monomer has been used to prepare a hetero three-armed, star-branched polymer with M_n=5.8x10⁴ g/mol (5,400-15,300-37,300). The g value ([]b/[]l) was equal to 0.92.     

A 231-MHz, 2.18-mW 32-bit Logarithmic Arithmetic Unit for Fixed-Point 3-D Graphics System

A 32-bit fixed-point logarithmic arithmetic unit is proposed for the possible application to mobile three-dimensional (3-D) graphics system. The proposed logarithmic arithmetic unit performs division, reciprocal, square-root, reciprocal-square-root and square operations in two clock cycles and powering operation in four clock cycles. It can program its number range for accurate computation flexibility of 3-D graphics pipeline and eight -region piecewise linear approximation model for logarithmic and antilogarithmic conversion to reduce the operation error under 0.2%. Its test chip is implemented by 1-poly 6-metal 0.18-mum CMOS technology with 9-k gates. It operates at the maximum frequency of 231 MHz and consumes 2.18 mW at 1.8-V supply     

Synchronized transform-limited operation of 10-GHz colliding pulse mode-locked laser

We report a 10-GHz colliding pulse mode-locked laser fabricated with integrated active-passive waveguides. The laser fabrication adopted a deep reactive ion etching and single-step metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy regrowth process for forming the buried heterostructure waveguide. Clean output pulses resulted from laterally tilting the active-passive interface and effectively suppressing residual back-reflections at the interface. Hybrid mode-locking resulted in a synchronized transform-limited sech/sup 2/optical waveform. Pulsewidth, chirp, timing jitter, and frequency-locking range were investigated through systematic device biasing condition optimization.     

Efficient inventory management in multi-echelon distribution systems

In this paper, an improved DRP method to schedule multi-echelon distribution network is proposed such that order-quantities and order points are dynamically obtained to meet the demand in just in time concept and minimize the out-of-stock probability. The order scheduling method reflects the dynamic characteristics of inventory level changes in the regional distribution centers and the central distribution center. The experiment has been done with various demand distributions, forecast error distributions and lead times. The proposed method was compared with the traditional DRP-based scheduling methods which use different lot-sizing and order point decision techniques. From the result, it is found that the proposed heuristic method yields preferable lot-sizing schedules.     

Decentralized supervisory control with conditional decisions: supervisor existence

Most of the results on decentralized supervisory control are based on supervisors that make unconditional decisions: "enable" and "disable." In this paper, we introduce and study the properties of decentralized supervisory control architectures where supervisors are allowed to make conditional decisions in addition to unconditional decisions. The conditional decisions we consider are of the form: "enable if nobody disables" and "disable if nobody enables." We characterize the notion of conditional coobservability that appears in the necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of supervisors in the context of such control architectures. This condition relaxes the previous notions of coobservability for unconditional architectures. The key properties of conditional coobservability are studied. We develop a polynomial-time algorithm for verifying the notion of conditional coobservability. A polynomial-time method of partitioning the controllable events between "enable by default" and "disable by default" is presented.     

Frequency response analysis of cylindrical shells conveying fluid using finite element method

A finite element vibration analysis of thin-watled cylindrical shells conveying fluid with uniform velocity is presented The dynamic behavior of thin-walled shell is based on the Sanders’ theory and the fluid in cyhndrical shell is considered as inviscid and incompressible so that it satisfies the Laplace’s equation A beam-like shell element is used to reduce the number of degrees-of-freedom by restricting to the circumferential modes of cylindrical shell An estimation of frequency response function of the pipe considering of the coupled effects of the internal fluid is presented A dynamic coupling condition of the interface between the fluid and the structure is used The effective thickness of fluid according to circumferential modes is also discussed The influence of fluid velocity on the frequency response function is illustrated and discussed The results by this method are compared with published lesults and those by commercial tools