Effects of an electric blanket on sleep stages and body temperature in young men

The aim of this study was to investigate any effects of electric blanket on sleep stages and body temperature. Nine male subjects slept under two conditions: using the electric blanket (HB); and not using the electric blanket (C). The ambient condition was controlled at 3 degrees C relative humidity 50-80%. Electroencephalography, electrooculography (EOG) and electromyography, rectal temperature, skin temperature and microclimate temperature and humidity were recorded continuously through the night. Body weight was measured before and after sleep. The amount of stage 1 and number of stage 1 and rapid eye movement sleep decreased in HB compared to C. No significant difference was observed in other sleep stages. Rectal temperature was higher in HB compared to C. The thigh, leg and foot skin temperature was higher in HB than C. The microclimate temperature of the foot area was higher in HB compared to C. No significant difference was observed in whole body sweat loss between the conditions. These results suggest that use of an electric blanket under low ambient temperature may decrease cold stress to support sleep stability and thermoregulation during sleep.     

Excitonic phase in a strong magnetic field. II. Sound absorption

The ultrasonic attenuation coefficient of longitudinal waves due to the excitonic phase is given as a function of band gap (or band overlap) between unstable Landau subbands at various temperatures. Impurity effects are important since the attenuation diverges at a certain small band overlap in the absence of impurities due to singularity of the state density. A numerical calculation shows new temperature variations of the line shape and the peak height of the attenuation in Bi. The most remarkable features are the appearance of new fine structure and an anomaly in its temperature dependence. The theoretical result is compared with an experimental result found by Mase, Sakai, and Goto.     

A fast method for topological observability analysis using aminimum spanning tree technique

A new unified method is presented for dealing with the problems of topological observability in power system state estimation: identification of network topological observability, and branches or nodes where pseudo-measurements are necessary to recover the whole network topological observability. The method is based on evaluating the minimum spanning tree in graph theory. The proposed method has been successfully applied to several sample systems and its applicability to real-sized power systems is demonstrated     

α-tocopherol affects the urinary and biliary excretion of 2,7,8-trimethyl-2(2′-carboxyethyl)-6-hydroxychroman, γ-tocopherol metabolite, in rats

In this study, we investigated a change in the excretory content of 2,7,8-trimethyl-2(2′-carboxyethyl)-6-hydroxychroman (γ-CEHC), a γ-tocopherol (γ-Toc) metabolite, in rat urine and bile by using a new high-performance liquid chromatography-elelectrochemical detection (HPLC-ECD) method. In this determination, CEHC [α- and γ-CEHC, where α-CEHC-2,5,7,8-tetramethyl-2(2′-carboxyethyl)-6-hydroxychioman] in the biological specimens were treated with 3 N methanolic HCl to hydrolyze conjugates and to promote esterification. The methylated samples were extracted by n-hexane/water (1∶2). The analyses of the methyl esters of α-CEHC and γ-CEHC were performed by an HPLC-ECD using an ODS-3 column at 35°C. The mobile phase was acetonitrile/water (45∶55, vol/vol) containing 50 mM sodium perchlorate. After rat urine and bile samples, respectively, were methylated as described above, methylated biliary metabolites were identified by liquid chromatography mass spectrometry as methyl esters of γ-CEHC. Furthermore, we examined the differences in the excretion of γ-CEHC between rat urine and bile after an oral administration of γ-Toc or α- +γ-Toc by the above HPLC method. In the γ-Toc group, each vitamin E-deficient rat was given 0.5 mL of a stripped corn oil preparation containing 10 mg of γ-Toc. In the α- +γ-Toc group, the rat was given 10 mg of α-Toc and 10 mg of γ-Toc. The content of γ-CEHC in rat urine from the α- +γ-Toc group was increased more in comparison to the γ-Toc group at 18–36 h after oral administration. Moreover, the content of γ-CEHC in rat bile in the α- +γ-Toc group was increased more in comparison to the γ-Toc group at 6–18 h after oral administration. Therefore, we have suggested that γ-CEHC was shifted mainly to urinary excretion after γ-CEHC had been excreted into the bile. Furthermore, we assume that α-Toc may affect the metabolism of γ-Toc to γ-CEHC in the body.     

Synthesis of Ultrafine Ceria Powders by Mechanochemical Processing

The synthesis of ultrafine cerium dioxide (CeO₂) powders via mechanochemical reaction and subsequent calcination was studied. Anhydrous CeCl₃ and NaOH powders, along with NaCl diluent, were mechanically milled. A solid-state displacement reaction—CeCl₃+ 3NaOH → Ce(OH)₃+ 3NaCl—was induced during milling in a steady-state manner. Calcination of the as-milled powder in air at 500°C resulted in the formation of CeO₂ nanoparticles in the NaCl matrix. A simple washing process to remove the NaCl yielded CeO₂ particles ∼10 nm in size. The particle size was controlled in the range of ∼10–500 nm by changing the calcination temperature.     

Development of a rapid and highly sensitive determination of triacylglycerol in lipids fraction of foodstuffs

This study describes the development of a fast and accurate method to determine the triacylglycerols (TAGs) content in lipids fraction. It comprises a solid phase chromatographic separation and a use of a commercially available kit followed by spectrophotometric determination. Evaluations of TAGs contents in heated edible oils (canola oil and sesame oil) by the new methods were good agreements with those by the conventional open column method. Furthermore, this method was applied to estimate TAGs contents in the lipids from rice grains with different polishing levels.     

Evaluation of hydrogenated resin acids as molecular markers for tire-wear debris in urban environments

To propose new molecular markers for tire-wear emissions, four dihydroresin acids, that is, 8-isopimaren-18-oic acid (I), 8-pimaren-18-oic acid (II), 13β(H)-abieten-18-oic acid (III), and 13α(H)-abiet-8-en-18-oic acid (IV), were identified and investigated for source specificities, distributions, and environmental stabilities. The absence of I-IV in natural sources and the linear correlations between dihydroresin acids with different skeletons in tires and in environmental samples demonstrated that I-IV are specific markers for synthetic rubbers. The ratio of III + IV to the sum of III + IV plus abietic acid showed the resin acids distribution between different environmental compartments receiving contributions from traffic and natural sources. The physicochemical properties and results of photolysis experiments suggested that I-IV can set lower limits for tire-wear contributions to environmental loads of particulate matter (PM) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with molecular weight ≥202. By comparing III + IV concentrations or (III+IV)/pyrene or (III+IV)/benzo[a]pyrene ratios in tires and those in environmental matrices, the contributions of tire-wear emissions to PM, pyrene, and benzo[a]pyrene were estimated to be 0.68 ± 0.54%, 6.9 ± 4.8%, and 0.37 ± 0.18% in roadside PM and 0.83 ± 0.21%, 0.88 ± 0.52%, and 0.08 ± 0.06% in rooftop PM.     

Diamond formation and behaviour of carbides in several 3d-transition metal-graphite systems

The formation of diamond and the behaviour of coexisting carbides with diamond in several 3d-transition metals (manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel)-graphite systems was studied under 7 GPa pressure up to 1700° C from the view-point of diamond formation. In the nickel-graphite and cobalt-graphite systems, no stoichiometric carbide was formed, but M _x C, which is thought to be the interstitial solid solution of carbon, was formed. In the iron-graphite system, on the other hand, the formation of two stoichiometric carbides, i.e. Fe₃C and Fe₇C₃, was found. In the manganese-graphite system, only one stoichiometric carbide Mn₇C₃, which is isostructural with Fe₇C₃, was formed. The diamond formation process in the presence of these transition metals is discussed in relation to the carbide formation.     

10-Gb/s strained MQW DFB-LD transmitter module and superlattice APDreceiver module using GaAs MESFET IC's

This paper describes the design and performance of a 10-Gb/s laser diode (LD) transmitter and avalanche photodiode (APD) receiver, both of which are based on GaAs MESFET IC's. The LD transmitter consists of a strained MQW distributed-feedback LD and one chip LD driver IC. The module output power is +4.6 dBm at 10 Gb/s. The APD receiver consists of an InGaAsP/InAl/As superlattice-APD and an IC-preamplifier with the 10-Gb/s receiver sensitivity of -27.4 dBm. As for the LD transmitter, we discuss the optimum impedance-matching design from the viewpoint of high-speed interconnection between LD and driver IC's. As for the APD receiver, the key issue is input impedance design of preamplifier IC, considering noise and bandwidth characteristics. Total performance of the transmitter and receiver is verified by a 10-Gb/s transmission experiment and a penalty-free 10-Gb/s fiber-optic link over 80 km of conventional single-mode fiber is successfully achieved