Amino acid profiles and liposomes: Their role as chemosensory information carriers in the marine environment

Yellowfin tuna enhance their hunting success in the vast pelagic environment by using their sense of smell to detect intact (uninjured) prey that are beyond visual range. However, the olfactory cues that tuna use would normally face huge and rapid dilution in the open ocean. We demonstrate that these prey odors are complexed within biologically derived lipid structures that probably delay the dilution of the amino acids to subthreshold concentrations and provide persistent arousal and search cues for the tuna. This may be the first demonstration of an extracorporeal biological function for liposomes. Tuna may also form chemical search images to maximize feeding efficiency. We demonstrate that the amino acid profiles of various prey species are consistent over time and between schools, which makes the formation of search images feasible.     

Pressure-induced conversion of α-connectin to β-connectin

The mechanism of the pressure-induced tenderization of meat has not been fully established in spite of its beneficial effect. To detect the changes in the large structural proteins of the myofibrils induced by pressurization without heat treatment, high hydrostatic pressure (100-300 MPa) was applied to rabbit at-death skeletal muscle for 10 min at low temperature (0-2°C). Significant differences in the electrophoretic pattern of connectin (also called titin) in isolated myofibrils were observed between the control and pressurized muscle samples. The conversion of α-connectin (2800 kDa) to β-connectin (2100 kDa) was accelerated with increasing pressure applied to the muscle; also nebulin (800 kDa) was degraded by pressure treatment. From the results it is clear that the degradation of connectin is induced by pressurization alone without heat treatment. If the conversion of α-connectin to β-connectin during conditioning has some influence on meat tenderization, the pressure-induced conversion of α- to β-connectin is possibly one of the causes of pressure-induced tenderization of meat.     

Infiltration behaviour of an internal electrode and electrical properties of multilayer capacitors by electrode infiltration

The infiltration behaviour of a tin melt, as an internal electrode, to the porous layers, and the electrical properties of multilayer ceramic capacitors was investigated by electrode infiltration. By preventing green-state delamination between the dielectric green sheet and the carbon paste, uniform porous layers, 5 m thick, could be formed after sintering. When 15 vol % ceramic pillars were added to the carbon paste, the porous layer of the sintered samples could be considered as a porous solid formed by many pores larger than 4 m. The critical pressure for the infiltration of tin melt into such a porous layer was found to be 0.5 MPa. With a high infiltration pressure, the resistivity of multilayer capacitors was decreased to 10⁸–10⁹cm due to the growth of micro-defects formed on the surface of the dielectric layers during the lamination process.     

Dielectric properties and microstructural behaviour of B-site calcium-doped barium titanate ceramics

Dielectric properties and microstructural behaviour of Ba_1–x Sr _x Ti_1–y Ca _y O_3–y ceramics, where strontium and calcium were doped on the barium and titanium sites, respectively, within the range 0x0.24 and 0y0.05, were investigated. Calcium addition decreased the tetragonality,c/a, increased the unit cell volume, and lowered the Curie temperature, which were all attributed to the occupancy of Ca²⁺ ions on titanium sites. When sintered at a low oxygen partial pressure of 10^–9 MPa, a resistivity higher than 10¹¹ cm was maintained for the formulations containing B-site calcium substitution more than 0.5 mol %. With increasing the amount of calcium addition, the Curie peak was depressed and completely broadened for the compositions with calcium addition more than 3 mol %, where the average grain size was smaller than 1 m. Co-firing with nickel electrodes in a reducing atmosphere also depressed the Curie peak and inhibited the grain growth due to the diffusion of nickel into the dielectrics.     

Effect of zeranol on bull muscle fibre composition

Two trials are reported in which bulls were implanted with zeranol and slaughtered at 18 months. There was no significant change in carcass weight due to zeranol in either trial. Samples of the longissimus dorsi (LD) and splenius (Sp) were cross-cryosectioned, stained for myofibrillar ATPase and examined by conventional light microscopy. The stain resolved three fibre types: I, slow contracting with an oxidative metabolism, IIA, fast-oxidative-glycolytic and IIB, fast-glycolytic. In the LD from treated bulls, the occurrence of IIB fibres was increased, apparently at the expense of IIA fibres, as the occurrence of I fibres was unchanged. These occurrence changes parallelled previously reported effects of castration. Changes in Sp were less dramatic. In one trial IIB fibres were absent from all Sp muscles, but, in the other, some of the Sp muscles from treated animals contained these fibres whereas they were absent from the Sp of the control group. If the changes in fibre type occurrence due to zeranol extend to skeletal muscles other than LD and Sp, there is likely to be a subtle change in the musculature's metabolism. Fibre areas were largely unaffected by zeranol. In this respect zeranol did not mimic castration.     

Indices of the nutritional status of workers in the oil and gas production industry adapting to the extreme conditions of an arid zone

The authors studied actual nutrition and certain parameters of food (supply of vitamins A, E, C and the content of phospholipids, cholesterol, NEFA, triglycerides and cholesterol esters) for oil derrick installers working during summer at the "Mangyschlakneft" amalgamation. Incorrect structure of their nutrition and insufficient supply with vitamins A and C, revealed as the result of the study, necessitate rationalization of the nutrition for such workers.     

Beam profile measurement of a solar-pumped iodine laser

Beam profile measurements have been made as a function of time within the laser pulse and C2F5I pressure. Measurements indicate that the profile is determined directly by the optical excitation volume, produced by the solar simulator, and that media distortion plays a minor role compared to the build up of quenching species during the lasing pulse.     

A study on the dynamic characteristics of the Korean Yi-dynasty bell type structure

The dynamic characteristics of the Korean Yi-dynasty bell type structure, including the acoustic effects, are analyzed both theoretically and experimentally. The numerical solutions of natural frequencies and mode shape for membrane and flexural behavior are obtained by using the NASTRAN program for the finite element method with plate shell elements of triangular and quadrilateral types. Test bells, A and B types similar to the Kap-Sa bell in Kong-Ju chosen among typical Korean Yi-dynasty bells, are manufactured on different scales to the original bell. To consider the effects of the variation of the structural dimension on the dynamic response, these bells are analyzed with respect to the variation of the thickness of the wall and the bottom rim and the asymmetric Dang-Jwas. The impact method with the Fast Fourier Transform Analyzer is adopted to experimentally assess the dynamic response. Results are in good agreement with the numerical solutions.     

The influence of environmental fluids and temperature on the cut-surface morphology of single-crystal silicon

Single-crystal (Cz) silicon wafers [(100) p-type] were cut in air, d6onked (DI) water and ethanol, at room temperature, 150 and 200°C by a diamond impregnated dicing wheel using a specially designed apparatus. The effects of environmental fluids and temperature on the cut surface morphology were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The SEM investigation showed that gouging and ploughing is predominant when silicon is cut in DI water or ethanol. Debris size analysis showed that the mean diameter of the volume distribution (MV) of debris formed in ethanol at room temperature was 9.5 m while that formed in air was 1.3 m. The surface morphology is significantly different at 150 and 200° C as compared to room temperature, i.e. the width of individual wear tracks varied from 0,8 m for room temperature to 1.6 m for 200° C.