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Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most lethal types of cancer. Various microRNAs have been identified to play an important role in PDAC. The study aimed to explore the role of miR-429 in PDAC.The expression and prognostic value of miR-429 were first analyzed using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) databases. Next, miR-429 expression was evaluated in the tissues and serum of 90 patients with PDAC. CCK8, SRB, wound healing and transwell assays were used to determine the effect of miR-429 on the proliferation, invasion, and migration of PDAC cells, respectively. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA), correlation analysis, TargetScan, and miRDB databases were used to screen and identify the target genes of miR-429.The results revealed that the expression of miR-429 was downregulated in PDAC tissues and the serum compared with those in normal tissues and the serum of healthy volunteers, respectively. The decreased expression of miR-429 was significantly associated with shorter overall survival. The overexpression of miR-429 significantly inhibited the proliferation, invasion, and migration of PDAC cells. Potential target genes of miR-429 were identified using WGCNA and bioinformatics analysis, and the results showed that cadherin 11 (CDH11), inositol polyphosphate-4-phosphatase type I (INPP4A), laminin gamma 1 (LAMC1), low density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 1 (LRP1), and quaking (QKI) were potential target genes of miR-429 in PDAC. Lower expression of CDH11 and QKI was associated with a more favorable prognosis in patients with PDAC. The overexpression of miR-429 could inhibit the expression of CDH11 and QKI. A nomogram model, involving miR-429, CDH11, and QKI, was subsequently constructed to determine their ability to accurately predict overall and disease-free survival in patients with PDAC.Taken together, miR-429 is involved in the development and progress of PDAC. MiR-429 could be recommended as a prognostic biomarker and therapeutic indicator in PDAC diagnosis.

This study aimed to examine the effects of lipid emulsion on the vasodilation and cardiovascular depression induced by toxic doses of calcium channel blockers. The effects of lipid emulsion on the vasodilation induced by bepridil, verapamil, nifedipine, and diltiazem were investigated in isolated endothelium-denuded rat aortae. The effect of lipid emulsion on the comparable hemodynamic depression induced by the continuous infusion of a toxic dose of either verapamil or diltiazem was examined in an in vivo rat model. The results showed the following decreasing order for the magnitude of lipid emulsion-mediated inhibition of vasodilation: bepridil, verapamil, nifedipine, and diltiazem. Lipid emulsion (0.5–2%) reversed the vasodilation induced by a toxic dose of verapamil, whereas only a higher concentration (2%) reversed the vasodilation induced by a toxic dose of diltiazem. Pretreatment with lipid emulsion alleviated the systolic and mean blood pressure decreases induced by a toxic dose of verapamil, whereas it had no effect on the decrease induced by diltiazem. Taken together, these results suggest that lipid emulsion alleviates the severe vasodilation and systolic blood pressure decrease induced by a toxic dose of verapamil, and this alleviation appears to be associated with the relatively high lipid solubility of verapamil.

Accumulation-type GaN metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect-transistors (MOSFET's) with atomic-layer-deposited HfO"2 gate dielectrics have been fabricated; a [email protected] gate-length device with a gate dielectric of 14.8nm in thickness (an equivalent SiO"2 thickness of 3.8nm) gave a drain current of 230mA/mm and a broad maximum transconductance of 31mS/mm. Owing to a low interfacial density of states (D"i"t) at the HfO"2/GaN interface, more than two third of the drain currents come from accumulation, in contrast to those of Schottky-gate GaN devices. The device also showed negligible current collapse in a wide range of bias voltages, again due to the low D"i"t, which effectively passivate the surface states located in the gate-drain access region. Moreover, the device demonstrated a larger forward gate bias of +6V with a much lower gate leakage current.

The aim of this research was to identify and localise re-peat sequences in Korean cattle (Hanwoo), which may be a basis for future genetic studies. To achieve this, a Ha n-woo BAC library containing a total of 150,000 clones with an average size of 130–140 kb was constructed us-ing two different restriction enzymes Eco RI and Hind III. A total of 2,794 clones were sequenced successfully at both 5′ and 3′ terminals using RP2 and T7 primers, ge n-erating 5,588 mate-pairs end sequences amounting to a total of 3.3 × 10

To isolate the microsatellites from the chromosomal DNA of the Korean cattle (Hanwoo) and to use those for the genetic selection, four bacteriophage genomic libraries containing the chromosomal DNA of six Hanwoo steers showing the differences in meat quality and quantity were used. Screening of the genomic libraries using 32 P-radiolabeled 5`-(CA)12-3' nucleotide as a probe, resulted in isolation of about 3,000 positive candidate bacteriophage clones that contain (CA)n-type dinucleotide microsatellites. After confirming the presence of microsatellite in each positive candidate clone by Southern blot analysis, the DNA fragments that include microsatellite and flanking sequences possessing less than 2 kb in size, were subcloned into plasmid vector. Results from the analysis of microsatellite length polymorphism, using twenty-two PCR primers designed from flanking region of each microsatellite DNA, demonstrated that 208 and 210 alleles of HW-YU-MS#3 were closely related to the economic traits such as marbling score, daily gain, backfat thickness and M. longissimus dorsi area in Hanwoo. Interestingly, HW-YU-MS#3 microsatellite was localized in bovine chromosome 17 on which QTLs related to regulation of the body fat content and muscle hypertrophy locus are previously known to exist. Taken together, the results from the present study suggest the possible use of the two alleles as a DNA marker related to economic trait to select the Hanwoo in the future. (Asian-Aust. J. Anim. Sci. 2004. Vol 17, No. 10 : 1329-1333)

This paper considers a scheduling problem for a single burn-in oven in the semiconductor manufacturing industry where the oven is a batch processing machine and each batch processing time is represented by the largest processing time among those of all the jobs contained in the batch. Each job belongs to one of the given number of families. Moreover, the release times of the jobs are different from one another. The objective measure of the problem is the maximum completion time (makespan) of all jobs. A dynamic programming algorithm is proposed in the order of polynomial time complexity for a situation where the number of job families is given (fixed). A computational experiment is performed to compare the time complexity of the proposed algorithm with that of another exact algorithm evaluating all possible job sequences based on batching-dynamic programming (BDP). The results of the experiment show that the proposed algorithm is superior to the other.

Two types of fluorene-based copolymers, poly(9,9'-di-n-hexyl-2,7-fluorenediyl-ethynylene-alt-9-trimethylsilyl-2,7-fluoreneethynylene[P-1], poly(9,9-di-n-hexyl-2,7-fluorenediylethynylene-alt-9,9'-bis-trimethylsilyl-2,7-fluoreneethynylene[P-2] were synthesized by employing palladium catalyzed polycondensation. Resulting polymers showed a good solubility in various organic solvents such as THF, chloroform, dioxane etc. and could be easily spin-coated onto an ITO glass plate to make a fine thin film. Characterization of these polymers includes FT-IR, UV-vis., 1H and 13C-NMR, was conducted. Thermal properties were also investigated by DSC and TGA as well as molecular weight studies. The present polymers exhibited emission of blue-white color. The photoluminescence (PL) spectrum of the polymers showed two peaks at 490 and 540 nm and it was found that electroluminescence (EL) spectra of the polymer [P-2] was very similar to its PL spectrum.

In this study, the Ni/Au layers prepared by electron beam evaporation and thermal alloying were used to form Ohmic contacts on p-type GaN films. Before thermal alloying, the current–voltage (I–V) characteristic of Ni/Au contact on p-type GaN film shows non-Ohmic behavior. As the alloying temperature increases to 700 °C, the I–V curve shows a characteristic of Ohmic contact. The Schottky barrier height reduction may be attributed to the presence of Ga–Ni and Ga–Au compounds, such as Ga4Ni3, Ga3Ni2, GaAu, and GaAu2, at the metal-semiconductor interface. The diffusing behavior of both Ni and Au have been studied by using Auger electron spectroscopy and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry. In addition, x-ray diffraction measurements indicate that the Ni3N and Ga4Ni3 compounds were formed at the metal-semiconductor interface.

This letter reports the integration of high-Q vertical ring inductors on individual small CMOS chips using a novel chip embedding technique. A small CMOS voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) chip which has 2×2mm2 in size and 5.8 GHz of operating frequency was used for post integration. The chip embedding technique enables the post-CMOS processing on such a tiny individual chip. The integration of vertical ring inductor on the CMOS chip was completed by Plastic Deformation Magnetic Assembly (PDMA). Both numerical simulation and experimental characterization of the inductor performance have been conducted. The vertical ring inductor manifests a stable inductance value over a wide frequency range (45MHz~8 GHz) and a high quality factor of 110 at the operation frequency of the VCO (5.8 GHz).

In GaAs/${\mathrm{Al}}_{\mathit{x}}$${\mathrm{Ga}}_{1\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}\mathit{x}}$As coupled four-ring and two-ring samples, large Aharonov-Bohm (AB) oscillations have been observed for magnetic fields 0B4.5 T. The oscillation spectrum changes systematically corresponding to the subband (Landau level) population inside the one-dimensional channels. Multiple tunneling between the edge states encircling the lithographically defined islands causes well-resolved high harmonics ne/h of the fundamental Aharonov-Bohm oscillation frequency with n\ensuremath{\le}8. Such high harmonics indicate participation from several islands and require very long phase coherence lengths ${\mathit{l}}_{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\varphi}}}$. The frequencies ${\mathit{f}}_{\mathit{n}}$=ne/h of all harmonics decrease with increasing B in accord with a simple model. These findings are evidence for ballistic transport in these large complex devices. The B dependence of the quantum interference amplitudes ${\mathit{G}}_{\mathit{n}}$(B) for AB oscillations of frequency ne/h is qualitatively different from the previously published results: They increase by about an order of magnitude with increasing B before decaying at very high field. The increase in ${\mathit{G}}_{\mathit{n}}$(B) is exploited to infer ${\mathit{l}}_{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\varphi}}}$ and indicates that ${\mathit{l}}_{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\varphi}}}$(B) increases with B at a rate \ensuremath{\ge}1.3 \ensuremath{\mu}m/T.

In a GaAs/AlGaAs 4-coupled-ring sample, large Aharonov-Bohm (AB) oscillations were studied up to harmonic order n = 8 for magnetic fields 0 < B < 4.5T. The frequencies of all harmonics of the AB oscillations decrease as predicted by a simple model. The results also suggest an increase of the quantum mechanical phase coherence length (lφ) with increased B.

A novel spectrometer is employed to study the spectrum of heavily doped quantum dots. A single-particle discrete spectrum is found to exist only in close vicinity to the Fermi energy. Levels further away are broadened beyond the average level spacing and merge to form a quasi-continuous spectrum. The broadening is traced to electron-electron interaction in the dot. For the discrete part of the spectrum, level statistics is studied as a function of magnetic field and found to agree remarkably well with recent calculations.

The Aharonov-Bohm (AB) interference patterns in ring-shaped conductors are usually dominated by random features. The amplitude of the oscillations is random from sample to sample and from point to point on the magnetic field axis owing to random scattering of the electron trajectories by impurities within the wires. We report experiments on devices made wet etching and global gates, which have shown major progress towards removing the random features. In loops that exhibit ballistic conductance plateaus and cyclotron orbit trapping at 4.2 K, the random pattern of AB oscillations (observed for T

The deep donors (DX centers) which supply carriers in many GaAs-${\mathrm{Al}}_{\mathit{x}}$${\mathrm{Ga}}_{1\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}\mathit{x}}$As heterostructures are known to be metastable at low temperatures, maintaining a nonequilibrium state because of a microscopic barrier to recombination if ionized. Earlier modeling by three of us [Kumar, Laux, and Stern, Phys. Rev. B 42, 5166 (1990)] incorrectly assumed the donors in the ${\mathrm{Al}}_{\mathit{x}}$${\mathrm{Ga}}_{1\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}\mathit{x}}$As to be in equilibrium with the electrons in the GaAs channel. We present data on the threshold voltage of heterostructures cooled under bias and results of calculations which assume that the deep donor charge is locked at the value attained at 100 K when the sample is cooled with a bias voltage applied. The revised calculations account for part of the discrepancy between the calculated threshold voltage for the quantum dot structure used in experiments by Hansen et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 62, 2168 (1989)] and the observed value. Part of the remaining discrepancy may be due to processing damage.

A new electronic trapping effect has been observed in a small GaAs/Al x Ga 1-x As ring, which takes place when the cyclotron orbits match the loop geometry. The trapping causes peaks in the magnetoresistance R(B) at low fields, and the peak positions were used to study the dispersion relation E n (k) of the one-dimensional magnetoelectric subbands. This allows the ring to be used as a mesoscopic mass spectrometer. The electron effective mass increases with magnetic field by a factor of 50 at field of 0.5 T. General agreement obtains between the experiment and the subband calculations for one-dimensional channels, indicating that true solid-state interferometers are possible

We report on some magneto-photoluminescence experiments on CdTe⧸Cd 1− x Mn x Te superlattices, which allow the observation of the type-I → type-II transition induced by the giant Zeeman effect of the semimagnetic barrier. The study of the magnetic field, for which the transition occurs, as a function of temperature leads to a determination of the band offset. In addition, several observations about defect luminescence are reported and several specific properties of CdTe⧸Cd 1− x Mn x Te structures are discussed: strain effects on the band offset, exciton binding energy, spin-flip scattering mechanism.

We have investigated the interband recombination of dense two-dimensional (2D) electron gases in one-sided modulation-doped ${\mathrm{In}}_{\mathit{x}}$${\mathrm{Ga}}_{1\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}\mathit{x}}$As and GaAs asymmetric single quantum wells, under a near-resonance condition between an exciton level from a higher electronic subband and the Fermi level. Under such conditions, the excitonic resonant enhancement of the Fermi-edge singularity is clearly identified in both systems. The optical oscillator strength of the electrons at the Fermi level recombining with photoholes is enhanced by over two orders of magnitude through the resonant coupling with the exciton state. The strength and character of the interaction of the exciton with the 2D electron gas (\ensuremath{\sim}0.6 meV) is determined by photoluminescence spectroscopy, including its dependence on temperature and an in-plane magnetic field. In a perpendicular magnetic field, the periodic modulation in the formation of such coupled many-electron excitons leads to very large ${\mathit{B}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}1}$-periodic intensity oscillations in the photoluminescence.

We have built strings of quantum dots consisting of 1 up to 4 dots. Transport measurements of these devices show sharp resonant conductance peaks around threshold. Our results are discussed in terms of Coulomb charging and of quantum confinement effects, since both effects are expected to be of the same order of magnitude for these devices.

Because of their long lifetime in coupled quantum wells under an applied electric field, excitons may he able to reach thermodynamic quasi-equilibrium. Here we measure photoluminescencc and photoluminescence excitation spectra from a symmetric coupled double quantum well. Analysis of the spectra shows that thermodynamic quasi-equilibrium is not achieved at temperatures below 6 K, where the excitons are trapped in a metastahle distribution. At higher temperatures, quasi-equilihrium is achieved. Because of strong repulsion between the excitons, the quasi-equilihrium distribution can he modeled with a Fermi-Dirac distribution. The model quantitatively explains the striking temperature dependence of the photoluminescence lincwidth which has been previously reported.

The temperature dependence of a magnetic-field induced type-I → type-II transition in a CdTe/Cd0.93Mn0.07Te multiquantum well is reported up to 15 K. The critical magnetic field at which the transition takes place is found to increase with increasing temperature. A reliable estimate of the relative valence hand offset ranging between 15% and 25% is obtained.

We present experimental results on the localized “surface” states, known as Tamm states, in superlattices. A terminating layer of Al y Ga 1− y As on GaAs/Al x Ga 1− x As As superlattices produced Tamm states at the states at the interface, which are observed by interaband optical transitions. Results clearly show the presence of localized Tamm states, either above or below the miniband states depending on the composition of the terminating layer, and their interaction with other extended superlattice states.

We investigate the spin relaxation of optically excited charge carriers in a variety of GaAs-${\mathrm{Al}}_{\mathit{x}}$${\mathrm{Ga}}_{1\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}\mathit{x}}$As quantum wells and superlattices at low temperatures by ultrafast time-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy. Structures with uniform static optical properties show a markedly varied spin scattering in the time domain, thereby requiring a series of studies with systematically modified epitaxial growth conditions. A multiexponential spin relaxation is seen in quantum wells with a fast initial component of less than 1 ps and a subsequent relaxation within \ensuremath{\sim}150 ps. For the same growth conditions, the polarization decay time in superlattices approaches bulk values, indicating a dimensionality dependence of the spin scattering.

Observation des echelles de Landau attachees a chaque transition de Stark dans les super-reseaux GaAs/Ga 0,65 Al 0,35 As en presence de champs magnetique et electrique parallele a l'axe de croissance, z. Pour certains rapports des champs magnetique et electrique, les anticroisements surviennent entre les echelles de Landau associees a des niveaux de Stark differents. Le couplage entre les echelles de Landau est attribue a l'interaction excitonique et au melange des bandes de valence. Lors de l'augmentation du champ magnetique perpendiculaire au champ electrique (B⊥Z), les transitions excitoniques de Stark s'elargissent et leurs intensites diminuent. Ce comportement peut etre explique en termes d'une competition entre les localisations induites par le champ magnetique et celles induites par le champ electrique

Diluted magnetic semiconductor Cd1−xMnxTe-Cd1−yMnyTe heterostructures of various layer thickness, where 0 ≤ x, y ≤ 0.4, were grown by molecular beam epitaxy for optical and magnetic studies of reduced-dimensional systems. X-ray diffraction patterns, low-temperature photoluminescence spectra (PL), and AC magnetic susceptibility measurements were used to verify the integrity of these structures. The carrier quantization in the quantum wells were revealed by the magnetic response in a magneto-optic microsusceptometer as well as by the results of PL measurement. These SLs were used to study the dimensional cross-over of the spin-glass phase. In addition, a magnetic-field-induced transition from type I to type II superlattice was observed.

Time-resolved and cw photoluminescence of excitons in coupled quantum wells with an applied electric field is modeled using a Fermi-Dirac distribution. This distribution can result from inhomogeneous broadening due to interface roughness and the strong, short-range electric dipole repulsion between excitons. The model quantitatively explains the striking temperature dependence of the luminescence linewidth and peak position previously interpreted as a phase transition to an ordered state [T. Fukuzawa, E. E. Mendez, and J. M. Hong, Phys. Rev. Lett. 64, 3066 (1990)]. At very low temperatures (\ensuremath{\lesssim}6 K), the excitons are in a metastable distribution.

We have fabricated a quantum dot with four leads attached via variable-width constrictions. At high magnetic fields and low temperatures, the h/2${\mathit{e}}^{2}$ and h/4${\mathit{e}}^{2}$ quantized Hall pleateaux observed for wide constrictions are replaced by a series of minima that go to zero or below as the constrictions are squeezed. These resonances are explained well by a recent model proposed by Kirczenow (following paper) to describe this structure, in which each lead transmits only one edge state. The minima can be explained by interference between edge states near the constrictions.

A novel dual-gate MODFET structure with two gates (

We have studied the effects of coupling on the lifetime of spatially indirect excitons in (50-\AA{} GaAs)/${\mathrm{Al}}_{0.3}$${\mathrm{Ga}}_{0.7}$As symmetric double quantum wells. The coupling was controlled by varying the barrier thickness between 25 and 60 \AA{} and by application of an electric field. Lifetime enhancements of up to 3 orders of magnitude relative to the lifetimes of spatially direct excitons were observed. At a given electric field the lifetime enhancement was larger the wider the barrier, due to the smaller electron-hole wave-function overlap, in good agreement with theory. We have also observed nonresonant hole tunneling and estiimated the tunneling time, which was of the order of 300 ps in a 40-\AA{}-barrier sample.

Magnetophotoluminescence- and photoluminescence-excitation-spectroscopy experiments are performed up to 5 T at 1.7 K in a 〈111〉-grown CdTe/${\mathrm{Cd}}_{0.93}$${\mathrm{Mn}}_{0.07}$Te superlattice. The results are compared with calculations of the level energies and of the exciton binding energies, that include field-induced negative offsets. A type-I\ensuremath{\rightarrow}type-II transition is evidenced near 2 T and a value of 15%--20% of the bandgap energy difference is deduced for the valence-band offset.

YBa2Cu3O7−x compounds were extruded into long wires with the diameter of 1 mm after sintering. The sintered wires were subsequently zone melted to develop a highly textured microstructure. Magnetization experiments at 77 K indicated a Jc value of 1×105 A/cm2 at 1 T. Transport measurements at 77 K showed a greatly enhanced field dependence of the critical current density. Transmission electron microscopy revealed an important grain‐boundary feature which eliminated the weak‐link behavior. Large amounts of dislocations have also been found in the zone‐melted sample which may contribute to flux pinning in the system.

We have observed a sharp reduction of the photoluminescence linewidth from a two-dimensional exciton system (coupled GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells), at a certain critical temperature (${\mathit{T}}_{\mathit{c}}$) and under the influence of an electric field. We attribute this narrowing to a phase transition of the exciton system into an ordered state. The experiments suggest that a coherence length long enough to wash out the effect of the fluctuations, which cause the line broadening, is introduced below ${\mathit{T}}_{\mathit{c}}$.

Using optical techniques, we have demonstrated that the quantum coherence of electron states in GaAsGaAlAs superlattices under electric fields increases drastically as the period, D, and the electric field, ∄, decrease, reaching at least ten periods at zero field when D = 60 A. The electric field localizes the states, breaking the superlattice minibands into Stark ladders, and producing a transition from three- to quasi-two-dimensional excitons. These effects are manifested, respectively, by the appearance of oscillations in the absorption coefficient, which are periodic both in energy and in ∄−1, and by a sharp increase in the intrawell exciton binding energy.

In narrow high-mobility conductors the predominant source of scattering is reflection of carriers off the confining potential. We demonstrate that by changing the geometry of the intersection of the Hall probes with the conductor, the Hall resistance can be quenched, negative or enhanced. More complex junction geometries can lead to one of these phenomena for one field polarity and to another for the other field polarity. At liquid helium temperatures these results can be explained by following trajectories. In the milli-Kelvin range fluctuations are superimposed. At high fields strong resonant depressions of the Hall resistance are found which may be associated with bound states in the region of the cross.

We have fabricated gated, asymmetric rings which, in principle, enable interference between electron waves to be varied with a gate voltage. Although close to the minimum dimensions currently achievable, the results are far from clear-cut, and imply that there are many problems to be overcome before useful devices based on quantum interference can be demonstrated, even supposing that the geometries proposed will actually work. We describe the methods used to analyse our data to show any consistent interference effects caused by the gate voltage variation. Narrower, higher-mobility devices are required in order to produce more easily-resolved gate voltage-controlled interference effects.

Diluted magnetic semiconductors have been shown to be excellent hosts in which to study the fundamental exchange interaction of a carrier with localized fluctuating magnetic spins. New low-temperature optical spectroscopy techniques using integrated DC SQUIDs have allowed sensitive magnetization studies in Cd1−x MnxTe superlattices as the magnetic layer thickness was systematically reduced towards the two-dimensional limit. Static and picosecond measurements reveal the magnetic manifestations of carrier localization in these electronic quantum wells.

Magneto-photoluminescence and photoluminescence excitation spectroscopy experiments are performed up to 5 Teslas at 1.7 K on a 〈111〉 grown CdTe/Cd 0.93 Mn 0.07 Te superlattice. The results are compared with calculations of the energy levels and of the exciton binding energies, including field-induced negative offsets. A type I → type II transition is evidenced near 2 Teslas and a value of 15–20% of the bandgap energy difference is deduced for the valence band offset.

We present the design, fabrication and in-vivo testing of a new micromachined probe for skin cancer detection based on oblique incidence reflectometry (OIR). The device miniaturization and fabrication precision provided by micromachining ensure reliable and repeatable high performance of the probe. The developed probe has been tested in a pre-clinical condition. An overall sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 93% haven been achieved in the classification of malignant and benign skin lesions.

The planes which serve as references for cranium and face in dental clinical application included the occlusal plane, Frankfort plane, Camper's plane and hamular-incisive-papilla (HIP) plane. The HIP occlusal plane is a horizontal plane passing through the bilateral hamular notches and the incisive papilla (Dent Surv. 1975;51:60). The aim of this study was to estimate the relationship between the various occlusal planes and the HIP plane in Taiwanese young adults with approximately optimal occlusion. Study casts of 100 young adults (50 men and 50 women) were selected in this study. All market points on the maxillary casts were measured by a three-dimensional precise measuring device. The angular relationship between the four various occlusal planes and the HIP plane were investigated. The vertical distances between the cusp tips and incisal edges of maxillary teeth to the HIP plane were measured. Data were performed by the Statistic analysis software programme (JMP 4.02). The Student's t-test and Pearson's correlation test were used to test the statistical significance (P < 0.05). The results showed that the occlusal plane defined as the incisal edge of maxillary central incisor to mesiobuccal cusp tips of maxillary second molars had the smallest included angle with the HIP plane (2.61 +/- 0.81 degrees). The incisal edge of maxillary right central incisal to mesiopalatal cusp tips of maxillary first molars had the largest included angle with the HIP plane (7.72 +/- 1.60 degrees). The curve is drawn through the buccal cusp tips of maxillary teeth had better parallelism with the HIP plane.

Plexin A2 (PLXNA2) is a receptor that recognizes secreted or membrane-bound semaphorin 3A, which is implicated in neural regulation of bone metabolism. In the present study, we identified 48 genetic polymorphisms in PLXNA2 by resequencing, and 10 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were selected for further investigation into their potential involvement in osteoporosis in a postmenopausal population (n=560). Two SNPs, +14G>A (Gln5Arg) and +183429C>T (Tyr1621Tyr), and Block1-ht2 were associated with risk of vertebral fracture (p=0.01–0.05), and three SNPs, +799G>A (Ala267Thr), +135391G>A, and +190531G>C, were associated with bone mineral density at various femur sites (p=0.003–0.03). Particularly, the minor allele of +14G>A was associated with a protective effect on vertebral fracture and higher lumbar bone mineral density, suggesting that +14G>A may be a useful marker for osteoporosis and its related fracture. These results provide, for the first time, evidence supporting the association of PLXNA2 with osteoporosis in postmenopausal women.

The dynamic behavior of ferromagnetic cobalt granules in ion‐beam cosputtered Co22Ag78 samples under annealing treatment was examined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), using a real‐time video recording system. Cobalt granules about 10 nm in average size were embedded in a nonmagnetic silver matrix. It was observed that, in situ, the cobalt granules changed continually in shape and size with annealing temperature and time. We have estimated the changes of cobalt granule size from the results of TEM. The ferromagnetic resonance method was employed to study the evolution of the shapes of cobalt granules. It shows that cobalt granule shapes and sizes change mainly along the plane of the film during the process of annealing.

With rapid development of the surface mounting technology (SMT), continual efforts have been made to make the surface mounting machines efficient as well as reliable. The authors propose an algorithmic approach to the improvement of efficiency for surface mounting machines. For minimizing the set-up time, a CAD data conversion algorithm, which makes the data for the pick-and-place sequences from the CADSTAR output files, is proposed. Also, for optimizing the feeder arrangement and the traveling path of heads in the surface mounting machine, SCM 130 model, effective feeder arrangement algorithms are proposed. To evaluate their performance, the proposed algorithms are tested on the assembly tasks of PCBs manufactured through simulations. As a result, it is shown that the proposed algorithm reduces the time required to perform the assembly sequences by maximum 9 percent when the task time is compared with the time required to perform the assembly sequences made by an expert.

The spectrum of heavily doped quantum dots is found to be discrete only in close vicinity to the Fermi energy. Levels further away are broadened beyond the average level spacing and merge to form a quasi-continuous spectrum. This breakdown of a single particle picture is consistent with electron-electron interaction in the dot. For the discrete part of the spectrum, level statistics is studied as a function of magnetic field and found to agree remarkably well with recent calculations.

Glandular odontogenic cyst (GOC) is an extremely rare lesion occurring in the jawbones. Sialo-odontogenic cyst was first described as a multicystic lesion resembling a botryoid odontogenic cyst (BOC) or a central mucoepidermoid carcinoma by Padayachee in 1987. In 1988, Gardner used the term "glandular odontogenic cyst" and considered it as a histologic variant of BOC. Most authors agreed that GOC was odontogenic because of the concurrent ball-like epithelial structure, ameloblastoma, squamous odontogenic tumor-like proliferation in its wall, or hyaline bodies in the epithelium lining. Recently, immunohistochemical studies of the cytokeratin profiles have also supported this concept. Its aggressive behavior and the recurrent tendency make it important. A new case of GOC in a 59-year-old male presented as a multilocular radiolucency in the anterior region of the mandible, invading the marrow space by epithelial islands is described with other clinicopathologic features and the literature is briefly discussed.

Liposomes, artificial membranous lipid vesicles, have been used as model structures for biological calcification processes. However, there is no definite conclusion that liposomes can be like matrix vesicles for inducing bone calcification and bone-like tissue formation on primary cultured cells. To determine whether liposomes can promote bone cell growth and mineralization by inducing crystal nucleation, liposomes composed of egg phosphatidylcholine, cholesterol, and bovine brain phosphatidylserine were added to 21-day-old Sprague-Dawley fetal rat calvarial cell cultures from day 1. The aims were to observe proliferation and the phenotype of osteoblasts by measuring cell numbers and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and, when added at confluence, to observe calcification. The data were analyzed with two-way ANOVA. During the 16-day culture period, cell numbers were not significantly affected by liposomes (100 mumol/L). However, ALP activity was significantly inhibited by liposomes (p0.05) at day 16 and thereafter. Calcified particles were detected by von Kossa's method, and were larger and more abundant (p0.05) in the liposomes groups than in the control from days 12-24. This response depended on liposomes dose. These findings suggest that liposomes promote calcification and accelerate the formation of bone-like tissue. Liposomes slightly reduce the expression of the osteoblast phenotype and do not affect cell growth in primary rat osteoblast-enriched cultures.

A MODFET with two 30-nm-long gates (separated by 40 nm) has been fabricated using ultrahigh-resolution electron-beam lithography. The proximity of the two gate fingers along with the ability to independently bias them results in the following features: (a) tunability of the threshold voltage, (b) enhancement of the transconductance, especially at low current levels, (c) reduction in short-channel effects, and (d) high-voltage gain and cutoff frequency. >

A synchronous pair of pulsed dye lasers is used to obtain continuous photoexcitation energy spectra of quantum well luminescence at fixed time delays following carrier generation, with picosecond time resolution. A measurement of the energy‐dependent initial luminescence polarization of photoexcited carriers in GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells, from a pulsed optical pumping experiment, is presented as an illustration of the technique.