Development of Solar Drying

Importance of Solar Drying is increasing worldwide, especially in areas where the use of the abundant, renewable and clean solar energy is essentially advantageous. In the developing countries and in rural areas the traditional open-air drying methods should be substituted by the more effective and more economic solar drying technologies.

R&D needs should be considered in the basic research and experimental fields; in performance measurement; in the modelling-simulation-design and testing. The international co-operation of experts should be improved and more efforts would be needed in the policy and in the public information.     

Nonlinearity of p-i-n photodetectors

At higher operating frequencies, the field dependence of the carrier velocity in p-i-n photodetectors generates harmonics and intermodulation products that can degrade the dynamic range of RF fiber-optic links. The authors present both a perturbational theory and measured harmonic data for a p-i-n photodiode operated at very high power densities which show that this and other detector nonlinear effects need not seriously compromise link performance. In particular, neither transit-time nor static nonlinearities in p-i-n photodiodes need limit the dynamic range of fiber-optic links operating below 5 GHz. The fact that the theoretical bandwidth of the photodiode, with all parasitic capacitance and inductance ideally removed, is 17 GHz, suggests that comparable spur-free performance should be achievable at X and Ku-band frequencies, once packaging parasitics are reduced     

Analysis of the validity of vaginal-cervical cytologic examination in 162 pre- and post-menopausal patients

The authors examine 162 cervico-vaginal smears of women in peri-menopause presenting cellular alterations (ASCUS). These patients were treated with a local topic therapy as the persistence of these alterations in 23 cases (14.2%) second level analyses were performed: gynecological visit, colposcopy and biopsy. In addition to inflammatory aspects 2 in situ carcinomas and 2 moderate dysplasias were recorded. We believe therefore that cytology could be a valid aid also in pre-menopausal women in the cervico-vaginal pathology.     

Optical gain of strained wurtzite GaN quantum-well lasers

A theory for the electronic band structure and the free-carrier optical gain of wurtzite-strained quantum-well lasers is presented. We take into account the strain-induced band-edge shifts and the realistic band structures of the GaN wurtzite crystals. The effective-mass Hamiltonian, the basis functions, the valence band structures, the interband momentum matrix elements, and the optical gain are presented with analytical expressions and numerical results for GaN-AlGaN strained quantum-well lasers. This theoretical model provides a foundation for investigating the electronic and optical properties of wurtzite-strained quantum-well lasers.     

Glucagon-like peptide I enhances the insulinotropic effect of glibenclamide in NIDDM patients and in the perfused rat pancreas

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the acute effects of glibenclamide and glucagon-like peptide I (GLP-I) and their combination in perfused isolated rat pancreas and in patients with secondary failure to sulfonylureas. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Rat islets were perfused with 10 nmol/l GLP-I in combination with 2 mumol/l glibenclamide. In human experiments, GLP-I (0.75 pmol. kg-1.min-1) was given as a continuous infusion during 240 min, while glibenclamide (3.5 mg) was administered orally. Eight patients participated in the study (age 57.6 +/- 2.7 years, BMI 28.7 +/- 1.5 kg/m2, mean +/- SE). In all subjects, blood glucose was first normalized by insulin infusion administered by an artificial pancreas (Biostator). RESULTS: GLP-I increased the insulinotropic effect of glibenclamide fourfold in the perfused rat pancreas. In human experiments, treatment with GLP-I alone and in combination with glibenclamide significantly decreased basal glucose levels (5.1 +/- 0.4 and 4.5 +/- 0.1 vs. 6.0 +/- 0.3 mmol/l, P < 0.01), while with only glibenclamide, glucose concentrations remained unchanged. GLP-I markedly decreased total integrated glucose response to the meal (353 +/- 60 vs. 724 +/- 91 mmol.l-1. min-1, area under the curve [AUC] [-30-180 min], P < 0.02), whereas glibenclamide had no effect (598 +/- 101 mmol.l-1. min-1, AUC [-30-180 min], NS). The combined treatment further enhanced the glucose lowering effect of GLP-I (138 +/- 24 mmol. l-1.min, AUC [-30-180 min], P < 0.001). GLP-I, glibenclamide, and combined treat-stimulated meal-induced insulin release as reflected by insulinogenic indexes (control 1.44 +/- 0.4; GLP-I 6.3 +/- 1.6, P < 0.01; glibenclamide 6.8 +/- 2.1, P < 0.01; combination 20.7 +/- 5.0, P < 0.001). GLP-I inhibited basal but not postprandial glucagon responses. Using paracetamol as a marker for gastric emptying rate of the test meal, treatment with GLP-I decreased gastric emptying at 180 min by approximately 50% compared with the control subjects (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: In acute experiments on overweight patients with NIDDM, GLP-I exerted a marked antidiabetogenic action on the basal and postprandial state. The peptide stimulated insulin, suppressed basal glucagon release, and prolonged gastric emptying. The glucose-lowering effect of GLP-I was further enhanced by glibenclamide. This action may be at least partially accounted for by a synergistic effect of these two compounds on insulin release. Glibenclamide per se enhanced postprandial but not basal insulin release and exerted a less pronounced antidiabetogenic effect compared with GLP-I.