The effect of different protein diets on longevity and various biochemical parameters of aged rats]

In this work 23 month old rats were fed for 200 days with different protein diets (NT-diet: 19% protein, 72% of animal origin and LP-diet: 8.8% protein exclusively of vegetable origin). Some metabolic parameters and lifespan (on the base of a 50% death-rate) were determined. The relations of the liver free amino acids glycine + alanine and tyrosine + phenylalanine + branched chain amino acids and the ratio of phenylalanine/tyrosine were determined to be higher in the LP-group. Phenylalanine in liver and urea concentrations in liver and serum were lower in the LP-group. Furthermore the dopamine or serotonin levels were significantly lower in lateral and medial or lateral regions of the hypothalamus respectively in LP-diet fed rats. The norepinephrine content was not modified by the diets. The median lifespan of 23 month old rats was higher by 24% following LP-treatment. These results suggest that the protein component (amino acids) of different diets may modify metabolic parameters and lifespan of animals by mechanisms in which the central regulation may be involved.     

Ultrafast all-optical switching in GaAlAs integrated interferometer in 1.55 mu m spectral region

The first observation is reported of ultrafast all-optical switching in an integrated asymmetric Mach-Zehnder interferometer, using the nonresonant nonlinearity in Ga/sub 0.82/Al/sub 0.18/As below half the bandgap. A relative switching fraction of more than 80% has been achieved using 330 fs pulses at around 1.55 mu m from a coupled-cavity mode-locked colour centre laser.<>     

TCAD and SPICE modeling help solve ESD protection issues in analog CMOS technology

The number of circuit design iterations due to electrostatic discharge (ESD) failures increases with the complexity of VLSI technologies and their shrinking. In this paper, we show how TCAD and ESD SPICE modeling can be used to solve ESD protection issues in an analog CMOS technology.     

Time and frequency in fundamental metrology

The author shows that because time and frequency are the most accurately measured physical quantities, it is desirable to tie other physical quantities to time and frequency measurements. A review of the progress that has been made in this direction along with speculation on possibilities for the future are given. The role of time and frequency in a wide range of measurements is discussed, particularly those involving the International System of Units (SI) and fundamental physical constants     

1-persistent carrier sense multiple access in radio channels withimperfect carrier sensing

A comprehensive analysis of a 1-persistent carrier-sense multi-access (CSMA) system using a radio channel with imperfect carrier sensing is presented and discussed. It is shown that a careful optimization of the channel state detector parameters must be performed in order to get good system performance. If the threshold of the detector is too high, the system will tend to behave like an unslotted ALOHA; if the threshold is too low, the system throughput will be zero. It is also shown that for the larger average packet rate G the system throughput is decreased. This is because for the same probability of correct channel sensing, the probability of incorrect transmissions from the waiting mode is increased     

Evaluation of the stressed-state of a bed based on emission memory effects of rocks in near-well space

Mining Institute, Moscow. Translated from Fiziko-Tekhnicheskie Problemy Razrabotki Poleznykh Iskopaemykh, No. 2, pp. 26–29, March–April, 1991.     

Addressing the special concerns of landfill closures: VLDPE and textured geomembranes

Landfill closures often require a somewhat different set of properties for synthetic liners than do landfill bottom liner installations. In particular, cap design usually presents the geotechnical engineer with greater concerns regarding long-term slope stability and accommodation of differential settlement. Friction between synthetic liners and materials contacting those liners, multiaxial elongation, and flexibility increase in importance. Since leachate does not contact the liners, chemical resistance becomes less important. Resistance to the components of landfill gas is, in most cases, all that is necessary.

As a result, synthetic liners with a textured surface to improve friction angles, and very low density polyethylene (VLDPE) geomembranes are becoming very attractive to geotechnical engineers. They provide considerable improvement in those areas which are important for cap installation. These materials, however, behave differently in standard index and performance testing of geomembranes, when compared with traditional polyethylene liners. These behaviors and differences are important for geotechnical engineers to understand. They are discussed in this paper.     

Characteristic features of the corrosion and protection of heat-exchange equipment

Translated from Khimicheskoe i Neftyanoe Mashinostroenie, No. 10, pp. 30–34, October, 1991.