Laboratory facilities and recommendations for the characterization of biological ultraviolet dosimeters

A laboratory facility for characterizing biological dosimeters for the measurement of UV radiation has been built and tested. The facility is based on a solar simulator, stabilized by photofeedback, and monitored by a spectroradiometer, with a versatile filter arrangement. This enables the following characteristics of the dosimeters to be ascertained: spectral response, linearity, and reciprocity; angular acceptance and response; calibration in simulated sunlight. The system has been tested on a variety of dosimeters and has the potential to be used with other radiometers, subject currently to the size of their active surface.     

Variability of Stress in Alumina Corrosion Layers Formed in Thermal-Barrier Coatings

Residual stress distributions have been measured and mapped usingphotoluminescence, piezo spectroscopy in thermally grown alumina oxides(TGO) formed on platinum-aluminide bond coats with thermal-barrier coatings(TBC) of thickness 0, 3, and 200 m. When there is a 3-m TBC or noTBC, the residual stress varies substantially with position and the meanstress is much lower than expected from simple thermoelastic, plane-stressanalysis. This is partly explained by the stress being relaxed by surfaceroughness, but stress mapping indicates that local fracture hasoccurred. The stress in the TGO formed under 200 m TBCs appear muchmore uniform and the mean value is approximately equal to the estimatedthermoelastic plane stress. This could be due to the extra constraintimposed by the TBC. The luminescence line width is much greater forspecimens with 200-m TBC and is too large to be explained by varyingmacroscopic stresses due to interface roughness. The effects of oxidationtime and reactive-element additions to the substrate at the level of30 ppm, on the residual stress, are relatively minor over the rangesexplored in these experiments.     

Monitoring temperature changes in capillary electrophoresis with nanoliter-volume NMR thermometry

Nanoliter-volume proton nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is used to monitor the electrolyte temperature during capillary electrophoresis (CE). By measuring the shift in the proton resonance frequency of the water signal, the intracapillary temperature can be recorded noninvasively with subsecond temporal resolution and spatial resolution on the order of 1 mm. Thermal changes of more than 65 degrees C are observed under both equilibrium and nonequilibrium conditions for typical CE separation conditions. Several capillary and buffer combinations are examined with external cooling by both liquid and air convection. Additionally, NMR thermometry allows nonequilibrium temperatures in analyte bands to be monitored during a separation. As one example, a plug of 1 mM NaCl is injected into a capillary filled with 50 mM borate buffer. Upon reaching the NMR detector, the temperature in the NaCl band is more than 20 degrees C higher than the temperature in the surrounding buffer. Such observations have direct applicability to a variety of studies, including experiments which utilize sample stacking and isotachophoresis.     

Study of curved and planar frequency-selective surfaces withnonplanar illumination

A locally planar technique (LPT) is investigated for determining the forward scattered field from a generally shaped inductive frequency-selective surface (FSS) with nonplanar illumination. The results of an experimental study are presented to assess the LPT accuracy. The effects of a nonplanar incident field are determined by comparing the LPT numerical results with a series of experiments with the feed source placed at varying distances from the planar FSS. The limitations of the LPT model due to surface curvature are investigated in an experimental study of the scattered fields from a set of hyperbolic cylinders of different curvatures. From these comparisons, guidelines for applying the locally planar technique are developed     

Full-wafer technology-A new approach to large-scale laserfabrication and integration

A concept for full-wafer processing (FWP) and full-wafer testing (FWT) for semiconductor laser fabrication in the AlGaAs-GaAs material system is presented. The approach is based on chemically assisted ion beam etching for the laser-mirror formation. Record values for mirror scattering, optimum mirror reflectivity, and equivalence to cleaved mirrors in terms of laser threshold and efficiency have been achieved. Promising results for uniformity and reproducibility for major laser diode characteristics on processed 2-in wafers have been found. The FWP technology has been extensively used for designing test sites to determine various materials, process, and laser parameters, such as sheet resistance, ridge dimensions, lithographic alignment errors, mirror surface leakage, etc     

Cardiac syncope due to transient coronary artery occlusion: the role of percutaneous angioplasty

A case of cardiac syncope is presented, associated with single vessel coronary disease. The mechanism of the syncope would appear to be a ventricular arrhythmia with transmural myocardial ischaemia due to transient occlusion of the diseased coronary artery. The symptoms and electrocardiographic abnormalities were reproduced and subsequently abolished by percutaneous coronary angioplasty.     

The effects of deprenyl on methamphetamine-induced dopamine depletions

The effects of deprenyl on methamphetamine-induced dopamine depletions were studied in mice. Four SC injections of 12.5 mg/kg of methamphetamine at two-hour intervals caused substantial (72-82%) and long-lasting depletions of striatal dopamine. Pretreatment with either 25 or 40 mg/kg of deprenyl did not significantly alter the magnitude of this depletion. These results indicate that, unlike what is observed following MPTP, there is no protection afforded dopaminergic cells by deprenyl pretreatment in the methamphetamine model of parkinsonism.     

Treatment of insomnia. Getting to the root of sleeping problems

Insomnia may be periodic and transient, as caused by situational stress, or persistent, as caused by a chronic sleep disorder. Physicians can gain much information concerning the type, probable cause, onset, and duration of insomnia through history taking. A sleep diary may reveal helpful information, and input from the patient's sleeping partner can also be valuable. Complicating disorders, such as heart failure, prostatism, or depression, should be sought and specific treatment prescribed. Chemical dependency, too, requires appropriate treatment. These measures, institution of good sleep-hygiene practices, and behavior modification may resolve sleeplessness. The primary indication for use of hypnotic agents is transient sleep disruption caused by acute stress. When an agent is chosen, onset of action, metabolism, and side effects should be considered, especially in elderly patients. Addictive agents should not be given to patients with substance abuse problems. If insomnia persists, evaluation at a sleep-disorder center is recommended to facilitate design of an appropriate therapeutic regimen.     

Enantioselective, mechanism-based inactivation of guinea pig hepatic cytochrome P450 by N-(alpha-methylbenzyl)-1-aminobenzotriazole

N-Aralkylated derivatives of 1-aminobenzotriazole are well-established, mechanism-based inhibitors of cytochrome P450 (CYP or P450). In this study, the kinetics of inactivation of CYP2B-dependent 7-pentoxyresorufin O-depentylation (PROD) and CYP1A-dependent 7-ethoxyresorufin O-deethylation (EROD) activities by enantiomers of N-(alpha-methylbenzyl)-1-aminobenzotriazole (alphaMB) were compared. The racemic mixture (+/-)-alphaMB, as well as the enantiomers (-)-alphaMB and (+)-alphaMB, produced a time-, concentration-, and NADPH-dependent loss of PROD and EROD activity in hepatic microsomes from phenobarbital-treated guinea pigs. The rates of PROD inactivation by (-)-alphaMB were significantly faster than for (+)-alphaMB. Consistent with this, the derived maximal kinact was also significantly greater for (-)-alphaMB than for (+)-alphaMB (0.49 vs. 0.35 min-1). In contrast, the concentrations required for the half-maximal rate of inactivation (Ki) were equivalent for (-)-alphaMB and (+)-alphaMB, whereas the degree of competitive inhibition of PROD activity was greater for (+)-alphaMB. No significant differences were found among (-)-alphaMB, (+)-alphaMB, and (+/-)-alphaMB with respect to mechanism-based inactivation (kinact = 0.18, 0.16, and 0.17 min-1, respectively) or competitive inhibition of EROD activity. No differences were found for the maximal extent of PROD or EROD inhibition or the loss of spectral P450 after an extended 30-min incubation with the inhibitors. We conclude that mechanism-based inactivation of guinea pig CYP2B, but not CYP1A, isozymes by alphaMB occurs in a stereoselective manner, most likely as a result of a difference in the balance between metabolic activation and deactivation for the alphaMB enantiomers.     

Incidence risk and aetiology of mammary abnormalities in dry ewes in 10 flocks in southern Greece

In a field investigation of 10 flocks in Southern Greece, 3367 dairy ewes were examined twice, in order to estimate the incidence risk and the aetiology of mammary abnormalities during the dry-period. Abnormal secretion, lumps, nodules, diffuse hardness, abscesses and cysts were the abnormalities detected. The cumulative incidence of mammary abnormalities during the dry-period was 5.1% (95% confidence interval: 4.4-5.8%); 47% of the cases detected developed during the first three weeks after cessation of lactation. Despite variation in the flock size, there was no between-flock variation in the risk of a ewe developing mammary abnormalities. Staphylococci (Staphylococcus aureus and coagulase-negative isolates) were the most frequently isolated bacteria from mammary samples; Actinomyces pyogenes, Clostridium perfringens, streptococci and Escherichia coli were also isolated. Resistance was encountered among the staphylococcal isolates.