Evaluation of radiation damaged p-in-n and n-in-n siliconmicrostrip detectors

Two p-in-n and one n-in-n silicon microstrip detectors were radiation-damaged and tested in a beam. A comparison was made between the p-in-n and the n-in-n in high resistivity wafers, and the p-in-n in a low and a high resistivity wafer. The charge collection showed a clear difference in the n-in-n and the p-in-n detectors, which suggested that the signals were shared between strips more in the irradiated p-in-n detectors. Although a difference of the low and the high resistivity wafers was observed in the body capacitance measurement, little difference was observed in the beam test results     

Towards the development of intelligent navigation support systems for group shipping and global marine traffic control

Computerised navigation is a developing technology in a branch of autonomous and intelligent engineering systems. It aims to enhance safety and security at sea and to improve the reliability of ship-to-ship operations and global marine traffic control. A recently standardised automatic identification system (AIS) takes full advantage of GPS based real-time positioning and timing information of ships. The use of the AIS is steadily growing to meet the needs of the merchant shipping and fishing industries. Nevertheless, a significant decrease in the number of ship accidents and hazardous incidents in open waterways has yet to occur. The work gathered in this paper is to establish a proactive means to prevent marine accidents by the use of the full potential of the AIS. Specifically, this paper describes the development of an AIS synthesis capable navigation support system enhanced with a degree of intelligence built from a physical model suitable to capture the dynamics of group based navigation of ocean-going vessels. The system envisioned is to provide adequate decision making support for group shipping, especially during the critical maneuvering in restricted areas such as channel passing and harbour approaches. Foundations for and experimental results of this study, including an analysis with the simulated traffic of Tokyo Uraga Channel route, are presented.     

Release of ‘soluble’ lignin fragments from orchardgrass during its passage through the rumen

Soluble lignin fractions were isolated with 90% (v/v) aqueous dioxane from the rumen digesta and faeces of a heifer fed on orchardgrass harvested at the pre-heading stage. Chemical analysis, UV and IR spectra indicated that the soluble lignin fractions were composed mostly of lignin components. The two solube lignin fractions showed wide distributions of molecular weight and had number-average molecular weights of 650–690 and weight-average molecular weights of 1450–1480. The results showed that, part of the orchardgrass lignin fed was released in the rumen as soluble lignin fragments with different molecular weights and excreted in the faeces possibly without further significant modifications.     

Effect of vagotomy on hyperactivity and increased dopamine turnover induced by intraperitoneal administration of thyrotropin-releasing hormone

A synthetic peptide corresponding to a region encoded by tau gene exon 8 was used to raise an antibody. The antibody, E8, was used to probe normal tau from different species and abnormal tau proteins from subjects with Alzheimer's disease. Immunoblotting and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays demonstrated that only bovine tau reacted with the E8 antibody. The E8 immunoreactive tau isoform was estimated to represent less than 2% of the bovine tau. Our results indicate that bovine tau is unique in containing isoforms positive with E8, and that PHF formation does not require the presence of PHF-tau with exon 8.     

Smoking cessation increases the resistance of low-density lipoprotein to oxidation

The effects of smoking cessation on the susceptibility to oxidation of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) was investigated in 14 men who quit smoking for 3 months. LDL was isolated and susceptibility of LDL to V-70 (4-methoxy-2,4-dimethylvalerinitrile)-mediated oxidation was assessed by measuring conjugated diene production at 234 nm, the lag phase being a measure of the resistance of LDL to oxidation. The mean duration of the lag phase became 1.9-fold longer after 3 months (P < 0.001). The result suggests that the increase in resistance of LDL to oxidation contributes to the reduction of the risk of coronary heart disease by smoking cessation.     

Dimethoxyphenylethylamine and tetrahydropapaverine are toxic to the nigrostriatal system

Experimental allergic neuritis (EAN) is a T cell mediated animal model of Guillain-Barré syndrome, characterized by inflammation and demyelination of the peripheral nervous system (PNS). To study the involvement of immunoregulatory cytokines, we induced EAN in Lewis rats by immunizing with bovine PNS myelin (BPM) and Freund's complete adjuvant. mRNA expression of the cytokines IL-1beta, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12, TNF-alpha and TNF-beta, and the cytolytic effector molecule cytolysin was examined in lymph node mononuclear cells (MNC) over the course of EAN by in situ hybridization after culture without antigen and in the presence of BPM, the myelin P2 protein, the control antigen acetylcholine receptor, or the mitogen PHA. Three patterns of cytokine mRNA expressing MNC in relation to clinical EAN could be distinguished: (i) IL-1beta mRNA expressing cells peaked already on day 3 post immunization (p.i.), and BPM- and P2-reactive TNF-alpha, and BPM-reactive IL-6 mRNA expressing cells were also detected already on day 7 p.i., i.e., before onset of clinical EAN; (ii) BPM- and P2-reactive TNF-alpha peaked together with P2-reactive TNF-beta, IL-6 and IL-12 mRNA expressing cells at height of clinical EAN, consistent with a disease-promoting role for these four cytokines; (iii) high levels of BPM- and P2-reactive IL-10 and cytolysin mRNA expressing cells were observed only during recovery (day 28 p.i.), consistent with a disease down-regulating role of IL-10 and cytolysin. The results suggest a major proinflammatory role for IL-1beta, TNF-alpha, TNF-beta, IL-6 and IL-12 and a disease down-regulating function of IL-10 as well as cytolysin in EAN.     

Effects of rebamipide, a novel anti-ulcer agent, on gastric mucosal injury induced by platelet-activating factor in rats

We examined the role of gastric mucosal blood flow, lipid peroxidation, and neutrophil accumulation mediated by platelet-activating factor in the protective effect of rebamipide against gastric mucosal injury in rats. The intravenous injection of platelet-activating factor induced hyperemia and hemorrhagic erosions in rat stomachs. Rebamipide did not affect the decrease in the gastric mucosal blood flow induced by platelet-activating factor. The increase in gastric injury score after platelet-activating factor injection and the increase in thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances were significantly inhibited by the administration of rebamipide. The gastric injury score was closely correlated with the accumulation of lipid peroxides. Tissue-associated myeloperoxidase activity in the gastric mucosa significantly increased after platelet activating factor injection; this increase was not influenced by rebamipide treatment. The protective effect of rebamipide against the platelet-activiting factor-induced gastric mucosal injury may be due to direct inhibition of lipid peroxidation or scavenging of oxygen radicals that initiate lipid peroxidation.     

Identification of causes of human errors in support of the development of intelligent computer-assisted instruction systems for plant operator training

This paper proposes a methodology to identify causes of human error in the operation of plant systems to support the development of CAI system for operator training. The target task of this methodology is goal-driven and knowledge-based planning behaviour, the cognitive process of which is assumed to be modeled as means-end analysis. The methodology uses four criteria to classify errors in an operation into eight groups, and then asks the trainee several questions to prune the causes. To confirm the usefulness of this methodology, a prototype CAI system is developed for the operation of filling up sodium into the primary coolant system of a liquid-metal-cooled fast reactor. The experimental result indicates that the system has the capability of identifying causes of the trainee's error, and consequently of figuring out the characteristics of his/her defect. As a result of this study, several issues are identified for future research.     

Determination of pyridonecarboxylic acids in plasma by reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography

A simple qualitative and quantitative determination for pyridonecarboxylic acids including nalidixic acid (NA), oxolinic acid (OA) and pipemidic acid (PPA) in chicken plasma was carried out by microbiological, spectrophotometric, thin-layer chromatographic (TLC) and reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) methods. As a test organism for bacteriological bioassay, Bacillus subtilis ATCC-6633 was the most sensitive of seven organisms investigated. Using the cup and the disc methods, a standard curve was obtained by determining the relationship between various drug concentrations and the diameter of the inhibition zone. The three drugs had two strong UV absorbance wavelengths (257 and 330 nm) on spectrophotometry. TLC analysis using a silica gel 60 F254 plate was investigated, and a solution of methanol:chloroform:acetic acid (3:1:1, v/v/v) was found to be the most suitable solvent for separation. The minimum concentration of drug detectable by this method was 0.5 microgram/ml for NA, 0.075 microgram/ml for OA and 0.39 microgram/ml for PPA. For HPLC analysis, a solution of acetonitrile:0.2 M phosphoric acid (1:1, v/v) was superior, and simultaneous determination of all three drugs was possible under the HPLC conditions used. The lowest measurable amount of drug in chicken plasma was 0.01 microgram/g. Recovery from extracts spiked with each drug at a known concentration was close to 100% for NA and OA, but only about 50% for PPA.