SHP2 is a target of the immunosuppressant tautomycetin

SHP2 phosphatase is a positive transducer of growth factor and cytokine signaling. SHP2 is also a bona fide oncogene; gain-of-function SHP2 mutations leading to increased phosphatase activity cause Noonan syndrome, as well as multiple forms of leukemia and solid tumors. We report that tautomycetin (TTN), an immunosuppressor in organ transplantation, and its engineered analog TTN D-1 are potent SHP2 inhibitors. TTN and TTN D-1 block T?cell receptor-mediated tyrosine phosphorylation and ERK activation and gain-of-function mutant SHP2-induced hematopoietic progenitor hyperproliferation and monocytic differentiation. Crystal structure of the SHP2?TTN D-1 complex reveals that TTN D-1 occupies the SHP2 active site in a manner similar to that of a peptide substrate. Collectively, the data support the notion that SHP2 is a cellular target for TTN and provide a potential mechanism for the immunosuppressive activity of TTN. Moreover, the structure furnishes molecular insights upon which therapeutics targeting SHP2 can be developed on the basis of the TTN scaffold.     

Redundant paths and reliability bounds in gamma networks

Multistage Interconnection Networks (MINs) are network systems providing fast and efficient communications at a reasonable cost. A gamma network is a specific class of MINs, which provides redundant paths in the system. In a gamma network, information from source nodes is transmitted through a specific set of routes to destination nodes. Reliability of an MIN is used as a measure of system’s ability to transform information from input to output devices. Due to the complexity of network configuration and availability of redundant paths, reliability bounds to estimate the exact reliability of a gamma network is proposed. A numerical example of an 8 × 8 gamma network is presented to demonstrate the accuracy of the reliability bounds. When the lower bound reliability provides sufficient assurance that the system will be operational at some specified time and closely approximates the exact reliability, then no further effort for obtaining the exact reliability expression is necessary.     

Dynamic Flow Model for Borrowing Channel Ordering Assignment Scheme in Cellular Mobile Systems

A mathematical model that predicts the dynamic flows in cellularmobile networks that allocate channels using the Borrowing ChannelOrdering Assignment (BCO) scheme is described in this paper. Two types ofhandoff procedures – the prioritized and non-prioritized schemes –will be considered in the model. Discrete event simulations wereperformed and the results were found to be comparable to the resultsobtained using the mathematical model. Application to comparative studyof the dynamic behaviours of the BCO, the simple borrowing channel assignment(BCA) and the Fixed Channel Assignment (FCA) schemes is also presented.     

The Local Trace Inequality for Potential Type Integral Operators

The local trace inequality for potential type integral operator is shown and the trace inequality in the framework of Morrey spaces is obtained. A sufficient condition for the equivalence between the Kerman–Sawyer condition and the Adams condition is also presented.     

Spectral envelope sensitivity of musical instrument sounds

It is well known that the spectral envelope is a perceptually salient attribute in musical instrument timbre perception. While a number of studies have explored discrimination thresholds for changes to the spectral envelope, the question of how sensitivity varies as a function of center frequency and bandwidth for musical instruments has yet to be addressed. In this paper a two-alternative forced-choice experiment was conducted to observe perceptual sensitivity to modifications made on trumpet, clarinet and viola sounds. The experiment involved attenuating 14 frequency bands for each instrument in order to determine discrimination thresholds as a function of center frequency and bandwidth. The results indicate that perceptual sensitivity is governed by the first few harmonics and sensitivity does not improve when extending the bandwidth any higher. However, sensitivity was found to decrease if changes were made only to the higher frequencies and continued to decrease as the distorted bandwidth was widened. The results are analyzed and discussed with respect to two other spectral envelope discrimination studies in the literature as well as what is predicted from a psychoacoustic model.     

Valley susceptibility of an interacting two-dimensional electron system

We report direct measurements of the valley susceptibility, the change of valley population in response to an applied symmetry-breaking strain, in an AlAs two-dimensional electron system. As the two-dimensional density is reduced, the valley susceptibility dramatically increases relative to its band value, reflecting the system's strong electron-electron interaction. The increase has a remarkable resemblance to the enhancement of the spin susceptibility and establishes the analogy between the spin and valley degrees of freedom.     

Anomalous giant piezoresistance in AlAs 2D electron systems with antidot lattices

An AlAs two-dimensional electron system patterned with an antidot lattice exhibits a giant piezoresistance effect at low temperatures, with a sign opposite to the piezoresistance observed in the unpatterned region. We suggest that the origin of this anomalous giant piezoresistance is the nonuniform strain in the antidot lattice and the exclusion of electrons occupying the two conduction-band valleys from different regions of the sample. This is analogous to the well-known giant magnetoresistance effect, with valley playing the role of spin and strain the role of magnetic field.     

Ballistic electron transport in AlAs quantum wells

We report the observation of commensurability oscillations in an AlAs two-dimensional electron system where two conduction-band valleys with elliptical in-plane Fermi contours are occupied. The Fourier power spectrum of the oscillations shows two frequency components consistent with those expected for the Fermi contours of the two valleys. From an analysis of the spectra we deduce m(l)/m(t)=5.2+/-0.5 for the ratio of the longitudinal and transverse electron effective masses, a fundamental parameter that cannot be directly measured from other transport experiments.     

The application of polyimide/silicon nitride dual passivation to AlxGa1−xN/GaN high electron mobility transistors

PECVD silicon nitride passivation is quite frequently done at the end of AlGaN/GaN HEMT fabrication before substrate back-side lapping. However, the PECVD silicon nitride process is likely to produce pinholes in the passivation film. A very thick PECVD silicon nitride film may produce mechanical stress on the underlying device. Polyimide passivation has also been known to be effective for AlGaN/GaN HEMT and it can also serve as a stress buffer. However, polyimide can take up water while PECVD silicon nitride is a good diffusion barrier for water, etc. Thus it is expected that a dual PECVD silicon nitride/polyimide passivation will be a better choice than just a single layer of PECVD silicon nitride or polyimide. In this paper, we will demonstrate the application of a dual PECVD silicon nitride/polyimide passivation to AlGaN/GaN HEMT process.     

A MAC Protocol for Multimedia Traffic in Slotted CDMA Wireless Communication Systems

In this paper, a media access control (MAC) protocol is proposed for multimedia traffic in slotted CDMA wireless communication systems. The channel resource is partitioned into four compartments: video, voice and data compartments, and common resource pool (CRP) which can be used by either voice or data. Video is only permitted to use its pre-allocated channels. Besides assigning voice to its own compartment, a threshold type decision policy is introduced to regulate voice call admission control in CRP. Data can use not only data and CRP compartments, but also the idle capacity of both video and voice. The proposed protocol provides a simple and flexible resource allocation decision for the multimedia traffic such that the bandwidth can be utilized efficiently while satisfying the quality of service (QoS) requirement for each traffic category. Two mathematical analysis methods are applied to evaluate the system performance. The first, Traditional Markov Analysis (TMA) is used to calculate the video and the voice blocking probabilities, and the second, Transient Fluid Analysis (TFA) is adopted to evaluate the average data delay and the channel utilization. Computer simulations verify the accuracy of mathematical models.Miao Ma received the B.Eng. and M.Eng. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Harbin Institute of Technology, China in 1992 and 1996, respectively, and the Ph.D degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore in 2003. She is a research scientist in the Institute for Infocomm Research in Singapore. Her research interests include network security, media access control, wireless communications and computer networking.Erry Gunawan received the B.Sc. degree in electrical and electronic engineering from the University of Leeds, U.K., in 1983 and the M.B.A. and the Ph.D. degrees, both from Bradford University, in 1984 and 1988, respectively. From 1984 to 1988, he was a Satellite Communication System Engineer at Communication Systems Research Ltd., Ilkley, U.K. In 1988, he moved to Space Communication (SAT-TEL) Ltd, Northampton, U.K. He joined the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, in 1989, and currently, he is an Associate Professor in the same school. His research interests include the fields of digital communications, mobile and satellite communications, error coding, and spread spectrum. He has published over 60 international research papers and has been a consultant to a local company on the study of DECT system and BLUETOOTH.