Dibutyltin-3-hydroxyflavone titrates a dissociable component (cofactor) of mitochondrial ATP synthase: An energy-transfer component linked to the ubiquinone pool

Dibutyltin-3-hydroxyflavone, Bu₂Sn(of), is a new fluorescence probe inhibitor of F₁F₀-ATPase and oxidative phosphorylation which inhibits by titration of an unidentified component of F₀. Its site of action is closely related to that of the trialkyltins and of venturicidin. This F₀ component is part of a pool of this component which is present in the heart mitochondrial inner membrane at levels of 5–7 nmol (mg protein)^?1 [18 ± 3 Bu₂Sn(of) sites per mol F₁F₀-ATPase]. However, ATPase activity in submitochondrial particles is near maximally inhibited by titration of approx. three Bu₂Sn(of) sites per mol F₁F₀-ATPase. Over 60% (60–80%) of the Bu₂Sn(of) interaction sites can be lost during the purification of F₁F₀-ATPase from submitochondrial particles. The number of Bu₂Sn(of) interaction sites in various F₁F₀-ATPase preparations is variable. The high numbers of Bu₂Sn(of) sites per mol F₁F₀-ATPase for heart mitochondria (18–21) and submitochondrial particles (15–19.5) decline in ATP synthase (11–15) to the low values obtained in Complex V (7–10.5) and the minimal values observed in highly purified F₁F₀?ATPase (3.5–5.6), thus indicating a variable dissociable component or cofactor of ATP synthase. The Bu₂Sn(of) interaction site, a component of ATP synthase, is responsive to the redox status of the respiratory chain and the interaction with Bu₂Sn(of) is with the reduced form of this component. Fluorescence titration studies show that this component is in redox equilibrium with the ubiquinone pool of the respiratory chain. It is proposed that this redox component serves as an inhibitor titratable cofactor pool which cycles through an F₀ interaction site (or sites) via a system which serves as an energy-transfer link between the respiratory chain and ATP synthase.     

A 24-GHz Patch Array with a Power Amplifier/Low-Noise Amplifier MMIC

This paper presents an active patch array designed at 24 GHz. It can be used as a front-end component for a phased array. A series resonant array structure is chosen which is compact and easy excite. With 5 elements, the array proved a 12-dB antenna gain. A power amplifier and a low noise amplifier are designed on a single GaAs chip (PALNA). Bias switch is used in the PALNA, which greatly reduces the switch loss in a transceiver and increases the efficiency. 20-dB small signal gain is achieved in both power amplifier and low noise amplifier. The active patch array is built by the combination of the patch array and PALNA. The measured active gain of this antenna is 35-dB for the PA mode and 31-dB for the LNA mode. This active patch array can obtain an EIRP of 34 dBm with a total radiated power of 22dBm and a maximum PAE of 32%. To check the noise performance, we applied sources at both normal temperature and 77K (liquid nitrogen) and extracted the noise figure (3.5 dB) of the active antenna by the Y factor method. The results proved that the active antenna is working efficiently as both a transmitting and receiving antenna.     

The primal-dual method for approximation algorithms

In this survey, we give an overview of a technique used to design and analyze algorithms that provide approximate solutions to NP-hard problems in combinatorial optimization. Because of parallels with the primal-dual method commonly used in combinatorial optimization, we call it the primal-dual method for approximation algorithms. We show how this technique can be used to derive approximation algorithms for a number of different problems, including network design problems, feedback vertex set problems, and facility location problems. Received: June 19, 2000 / Accepted: February 7, 2001?Published online October 2, 2001     

A topological aspect of Sobolev mappings

Let be a connected open set, . We give a sufficient condition for a mapping , , to have the property that sgn is almost everywhere of one sign. Following the work of Müller, Spector, and Tang [MST], we give an application of our results to the theory of non-linear elasticity. Received: 13 October 2000 / Accepted: 23 January 2001 / Published online: 4 May 2001     

A quadruple well, quadruple polysilicon BiCMOS process for fast 16Mb SRAM's

An advanced, high-performance, quadruple well, quadruple polysilicon BiCMOS technology has been developed for fast 16 Mb SRAM's. A split word-line bitcell architecture, using four levels of polysilicon and two self-aligned contacts, achieves a cell area of 8.61 μm² with conventional I-line lithography and 7.32 μm² with I-line plus phase-shift or with deep UV lithography. The process features PELOX isolation to provide a 1.0 μm active pitch, MOSFET transistors designed for a 0.80 μm gate poly pitch, a double polysilicon bipolar transistor with aggressively scaled parasitics, and a thin-film polysilicon transistor to enhance bitcell stability. A quadruple-well structure improves soft error rate (SER) and allows simultaneous optimization of MOSFET and bipolar performance     

Two's complement quantization in orthogonal biquad digital filters

A special class of complex biquad digital filters called orthogonal filters are investigated for stability under two's complement quantization. A sufficient condition is derived for the asymptotic stability of the nonlinear filter. Bounds on the possible limit cycles are also obtained. Using these bounds, any given filter can be tested for stability. The stability triangle is then scanned using a dense grid, and each point on the grid is tested for stability/limit cycles. By this method, the stability region given by the sufficient condition is extended. Regions within the linear stability triangle where various types of limit cycles are possible are also identified.