197 research outputs found
Standard Transistor Array (STAR). Volume 1: Placement technique
A large scale integration (LSI) technology, the standard transistor array uses a prefabricated understructure of transistors and a comprehensive library of digital logic cells to allow efficient fabrication of semicustom digital LSI circuits. The cell placement technique for this technology involves formation of a one dimensional cell layout and "folding" of the one dimensional placement onto the chip. It was found that, by use of various folding methods, high quality chip layouts can be achieved. Methods developed to measure of the "goodness" of the generated placements include efficient means for estimating channel usage requirements and for via counting. The placement and rating techniques were incorporated into a placement program (CAPSTAR). By means of repetitive use of the folding methods and simple placement improvement strategies, this program provides near optimum placements in a reasonable amount of time. The program was tested on several typical LSI circuits to provide performance comparisons both with respect to input parameters and with respect to the performance of other placement techniques. The results of this testing indicate that near optimum placements can be achieved by use of the procedures incurring severe time penalties
The Quantum Mechanics of Hyperion
This paper is motivated by the suggestion [W. Zurek, Physica Scripta, T76,
186 (1998)] that the chaotic tumbling of the satellite Hyperion would become
non-classical within 20 years, but for the effects of environmental
decoherence. The dynamics of quantum and classical probability distributions
are compared for a satellite rotating perpendicular to its orbital plane,
driven by the gravitational gradient. The model is studied with and without
environmental decoherence. Without decoherence, the maximum quantum-classical
(QC) differences in its average angular momentum scale as hbar^{2/3} for
chaotic states, and as hbar^2 for non-chaotic states, leading to negligible QC
differences for a macroscopic object like Hyperion. The quantum probability
distributions do not approach their classical limit smoothly, having an
extremely fine oscillatory structure superimposed on the smooth classical
background. For a macroscopic object, this oscillatory structure is too fine to
be resolved by any realistic measurement. Either a small amount of smoothing
(due to the finite resolution of the apparatus) or a very small amount of
environmental decoherence is sufficient ensure the classical limit. Under
decoherence, the QC differences in the probability distributions scale as
(hbar^2/D)^{1/6}, where D is the momentum diffusion parameter. We conclude that
decoherence is not essential to explain the classical behavior of macroscopic
bodies.Comment: 17 pages, 24 figure
Celestial mechanics in Kerr spacetime
The dynamical parameters conventionally used to specify the orbit of a test
particle in Kerr spacetime are the energy , the axial component of the
angular momentum, , and Carter's constant . These parameters are
obtained by solving the Hamilton-Jacobi equation for the dynamical problem of
geodesic motion. Employing the action-angle variable formalism, on the other
hand, yields a different set of constants of motion, namely, the fundamental
frequencies , and associated with
the radial, polar and azimuthal components of orbital motion. These
frequencies, naturally, determine the time scales of orbital motion and,
furthermore, the instantaneous gravitational wave spectrum in the adiabatic
approximation. In this article, it is shown that the fundamental frequencies
are geometric invariants and explicit formulas in terms of quadratures are
derived. The numerical evaluation of these formulas in the case of a rapidly
rotating black hole illustrates the behaviour of the fundamental frequencies as
orbital parameters such as the semi-latus rectum , the eccentricity or
the inclination parameter are varied. The limiting cases of
circular, equatorial and Keplerian motion are investigated as well and it is
shown that known results are recovered from the general formulas.Comment: 25 pages (LaTeX), 5 figures, submitted to Class. Quantum Gra
Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor-Related Pathways in Hemato-Lymphoid Malignancies
Angiogenesis is essential for malignant tumor growth. This has been documented for solid tumors, and there is an emerging evidence suggesting that tumor progression of hematolymphoid malignancies also depends on the induction of new blood vessel formation. The most important proangiogenic agent is vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), activating VEGF receptors 1 and 2. The available data on angiogenesis in hemato-lymphoid malignancies, such as acute leukemias, myelodysplastic syndromes, myeloproliferative neoplasms, multiple myeloma, and lymphomas, point towards the significance of autocrine and paracrine VEGF-mediated effects for proliferation and survival of leukemia/lymphoma cells in addition to tumor vascularization. Antiangiogenic strategies have become an important therapeutic modality for solid tumors. Several antiangiogenic agents targeting VEGF-related pathways are also being utilized in clinical trials for the treatment of hemato-lymphoid malignancies, and in some instances these pathways have emerged as promising therapeutic targets. This review summarizes recent advances in the basic understanding of the role of angiogenesis in hemato-lymphoid malignancies and the translation of such basic findings into clinical studies
Phenomenological analysis of K+ meson production in proton-nucleus collisions
Total and differential cross sections from literature, on the production of
K+ mesons in pA interactions at projectile energies between T=0.8 and 2.9 GeV,
covering the transition across the free nucleon-nucleon threshold at 1.58 GeV,
have been investigated. From the target-mass dependence of the production cross
sections no evidence for the expected change of the dominant reaction mechanism
from two-step to direct kaon production was found. At T=1.0 GeV the A
dependences of the total cross sections and of the most recent data from
COSY-Juelich, differential cross sections measured under forward angles, are
strongly different. The invariant K+ production cross sections show an overall
exponential scaling behavior with the squared four-momentum transfer between
the beam proton and the produced K+ meson for t< -0.05 GeV^2 independent of the
beam energy and emission angle. The data from COSY-Juelich reveal a strongly
different t dependence in the region of t>0 GeV^2. Further data at forward
angles and different beam energies should be taken in order to explore this
region of kinematically extreme conditions.Comment: 9 Pages, 11 Figure
Target mass number dependence of subthreshold antiproton production in proton-, deuteron- and alpha-particle-induced reactions
Data from KEK on subthreshold \bar{\mrm{p}} as well as on and
\mrm{K}^\pm production in proton-, deuteron- and -induced reactions
at energies between 2.0 and 12.0 A GeV for C, Cu and Pb targets are described
within a unified approach. We use a model which considers a nuclear reaction as
an incoherent sum over collisions of varying numbers of projectile and target
nucleons. It samples complete events and thus allows for the simultaneous
consideration of all final particles including the decay products of the
nuclear residues. The enormous enhancement of the \bar{\mrm{p}} cross
section, as well as the moderate increase of meson production in deuteron and
induced compared to proton-induced reactions, is well reproduced for
all target nuclei. In our approach, the observed enhancement near the
production threshold is mainly due to the contributions from the interactions
of few-nucleon clusters by simultaneously considering fragmentation processes
of the nuclear residues. The ability of the model to reproduce the target mass
dependence may be considered as a further proof of the validity of the cluster
concept.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure
Inflationary attractor in Gauss-Bonnet brane cosmology
The inflationary attractor properties of the canonical scalar field and
Born-Infeld field are investigated in the Randall-Sundrum II scenario with a
Gauss-Bonnet term in the bulk action. We find that the inflationary attractor
property will always hold for both the canonical and Born-Infeld fields for any
allowed non-negative Gauss-Bonnet coupling. We also briefly discuss the
possibility of explaining the suppressed lower multiples and running scalar
spectral index simultaneously in the scenario of Gauss-Bonnet brane inflation.Comment: 7 pages, no figures. An error in the discussion of BI field
corrected, conclusion correcte
Amitriptyline-Mediated Cognitive Enhancement in Aged 3×Tg Alzheimer's Disease Mice Is Associated with Neurogenesis and Neurotrophic Activity
Approximately 35 million people worldwide suffer from Alzheimer's disease (AD). Existing therapeutics, while moderately effective, are currently unable to stem the widespread rise in AD prevalence. AD is associated with an increase in amyloid beta (Aβ) oligomers and hyperphosphorylated tau, along with cognitive impairment and neurodegeneration. Several antidepressants have shown promise in improving cognition and alleviating oxidative stress in AD but have failed as long-term therapeutics. In this study, amitriptyline, an FDA-approved tricyclic antidepressant, was administered orally to aged and cognitively impaired transgenic AD mice (3×TgAD). After amitriptyline treatment, cognitive behavior testing demonstrated that there was a significant improvement in both long- and short-term memory retention. Amitriptyline treatment also caused a significant potentiation of non-toxic Aβ monomer with a concomitant decrease in cytotoxic dimer Aβ load, compared to vehicle-treated 3×TgAD controls. In addition, amitriptyline administration caused a significant increase in dentate gyrus neurogenesis as well as increases in expression of neurosynaptic marker proteins. Amitriptyline treatment resulted in increases in hippocampal brain-derived neurotrophic factor protein as well as increased tyrosine phosphorylation of its cognate receptor (TrkB). These results indicate that amitriptyline has significant beneficial actions in aged and damaged AD brains and that it shows promise as a tolerable novel therapeutic for the treatment of AD
- …