Influence of corticotropin-releasing factor on pancreatic and islet blood flow in different regions of the rat pancreas

Corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) has previously been shown to selectively dilate the mesenteric vascular bed, without affecting other vascular beds. Pancreatic blood flow and islet blood flow were therefore measured separately with a microsphere technique in the two regions of the rat pancreas perfused by the superior mesenteric artery (SMA) or celiac artery (CA) respectively. Intravenous infusion of CRF (0.25 microgram/kg b.w./min) caused an increase in both whole pancreatic blood flow and islet blood flow in the region of the pancreas perfused by the SMA. The fraction of whole pancreatic blood flow diverted through the islets in this part of the pancreas was, however, unaffected by CRF infusion (approximately 10%). CRF did not change either pancreatic or islet blood flow in the CA-perfused part of the pancreas, and did not affect the release of insulin.     

Durability of polymeric glazing materials for solar applications

The economic viability of solar collector systems for domestic hot water (DHW) generation is strongly linked to the cost of such systems. Installation and hardware costs must be reduced by 50% to allow significant market penetration. An attractive approach to cost reduction is to replace glass and metal parts with less expensive, lighter weight polymeric components. Weight reduction decreases the cost of shipping, handling, and installation. The use of polymeric materials also allows the benefits and cost savings associated with well established manufacturing processes, along with savings associated with improved fastening, reduced part count, and overall assembly refinements. A key challenge is to maintain adequate system performance and assure requisite durability for extended lifetimes. Results of preliminary and ongoing screening tests for a large number of candidate polymeric glazing materials are presented. Based on these results, two specific glazings with moderate and poor weathering stability are selected to demonstrate how a service lifetime methodology can be applied to accurately predict the optical performance of these materials during in-service use. A summary is given for data obtained by outdoor exposure and indoor testing of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and high temperature modified polycarbonate copolymer (coPC) materials, and an initial risk analysis is given for the two materials. Screening tests and analyses for service lifetime prediction are discussed. A methodology that provides a way to derive correlations between degradation experienced by materials exposed to controlled accelerated laboratory exposure conditions and materials exposed to in-service conditions is given, and a validation is presented for the methodology based upon durability test results for PVC and coPC.     

Estimating thermal stress in BIPV modules

The thermal stress on building‐integrated photovoltaic modules (BIPV) in Espoo, Finland, was studied with field‐testing of amorphous silicon modules. Based on these results, the thermal stress at two other European locations (Paris and Lisbon) was estimated. The estimation procedure entailed thermal modelling of heat transfer in the façade with meteorological data as input. The results indicate that the thermal stress on BIPV modules in Lisbon is, in this case, approximately 50% higher that in Espoo and between 80 and 200% higher than in Paris, depending on the activation energy of the degradation process. The difference in stress between a BIPV module and a free‐standing module in Espoo was 50–200%. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Incidence of neoplasms in ages 0-19 y in parts of Sweden with high 137Cs fallout after the Chernobyl accident

An experiment was conducted to elucidate the origin of tetraploids (2n = 4x = 44) of Paragonimus westermani that occur together with diploid (2n = 2x = 22) and triploid (2n = 3x = 33) types in Liaoning Province, the People's Republic of China. Metacercariae of the diploid type, obtained from Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, and those of the triploid type from Tsushima, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan, were mixed and inoculated into dogs and cats. The following results were obtained. The flukes were found in pairs within cysts in random combinations of 2x + 2x, 2x + 3x, and 3x + 3x (7:15:7). Oocytes in the oviduct were at stages from diplotene to metaphase. In a triploid fluke encysted with a diploid fluke, the primary oocytes were intruded by sperms from the diploid fluke. In the primary oocytes of diploid as well as triploid flukes, from diplotene to diakinesis, the homologues of the nucleolar chromosomes were heteromorphic as far as the size of the short arm was concerned. This implies that the triploid is an autotriploid generated in an ancestral diploid population that was polymorphic for the nucleolar chromosome.     

Monte Carlo and analytical calculation of proton pencil beams for computerized treatment plan optimization

Proton pencil beams in water, in a format suitable for treatment planning algorithms and covering the radiotherapy energy range (50-250 MeV), have been calculated using a modified version of the Monte Carlo code PTRAN. A simple analytical model has also been developed for calculating proton broad-beam dose distributions which is in excellent agreement with the Monte Carlo calculations. Radial dose distributions are also calculated analytically and narrow proton pencil-beam dose distributions derived. The physical approximations in the Monte Carlo code and in the analytical model together with their limitations are discussed. Examples showing the use of the calculated set of proton pencil beams as input to an existing photon treatment planning algorithm based on biological optimization are given for fully 3D scanned proton pencil beams; these include intensity modulated beams with range shift and scanning in the transversal plane.     

Influence of water and accelerated aging on the shear fracture properties of glass/epoxy composite

The degradation of interlaminar shear strength and shear fracture toughness of glass/epoxy composites due to uptake of distilled water and sea water has been studied. The composites were immersed in water for up to eight months at temperatures up to 70 °C. Unreinforced matrix resin samples were also immersed for periods up to 2 years. Sea water was absorbed less rapidly than distilled water. Weight gains below 1% did not influence the shear strength while higher weight gains reduced shear strength up to 25%. The loss in apparent interlaminar shear strength was uniquely related to specimen weight gain. Mode II fracture toughness, G _IIc, also decreased with increasing immersion time after an initial incubation period, but the accelerated tests were found to reduce G _IIc less than the room temperature tests at comparable weight gains.     

Decision making with a fuzzy ontology

Knowledge mobilisation is a transition from the prevailing knowledge management technology that has been widely used in industry for the last 20?years to a new methodology and some innovative methods for knowledge representation, formation and development and for knowledge retrieval and distribution. Knowledge mobilisation aims at coming to terms with some of the problems of knowledge management and at the same time to introduce new theory, new methods and new technology. More precisely, this paper presents an outline of a fuzzy ontology as an enhanced version of classical ontology and demonstrates some advantages for practical decision making. We show that a number of soft computing techniques, e.g. aggregation functions and interval valued fuzzy numbers, will support effective and practical decision making on the basis of the fuzzy ontology. We demonstrate the knowledge mobilisation methods with the construction of a support system for finding the best available wine for a number of wine drinking occasions using a fuzzy wine ontology and fuzzy reasoning methods; the support system has been implemented for a Nokia N900 smart phone.