Hyperdynamic circulation of cirrhotic rats: role of substance P and its relationship to nitric oxide

BACKGROUND: It has been suggested that excessive formation of nitric oxide (NO) is responsible for the hyperdynamic circulation observed in portal hypertension. Substance P is a neuropeptide partly cleared by the liver and causes vasodilatation through the activation of the endothelial NO pathway. However, there are no previously published data concerning the plasma level of substance P in cirrhotic rats and its relationship to NO. METHODS: Plasma concentrations of substance P and nitrate/nitrite (an index of NO production) were determined in control rats and cirrhotic rats with or without ascites using an enzyme-linked immununosorbent assay and a colorimetric assay, respectively. In addition, systemic and portal hemodynamics were evaluated by a thermodilution technique and catheterization. RESULTS: Cirrhotic rats with and without ascites had a lower systemic vascular resistance (2.6 +/- 0.2 and 3.9 +/- 0.4 mmHg ml(-1) x min x 100 g body weight, respectively) and higher portal pressure (14.6 +/- 0.6 and 11.3 +/- 1.8 mmHg) than control rats (6.5 +/- 0.3 mmHg x ml(-1) x min x 100 g BW and 6.8 +/- 0.2 mmHg, respectively, P < 0.05), and cirrhotic rats with ascites had the lowest systemic vascular resistance. Plasma levels of nitrate/nitrite progressively increased in relation to the severity of liver dysfunction (control rats, 2.7 +/- 0.5 nmol/ml; cirrhotic rats without ascites, 5.6 +/- 1.3 nmol/ml; cirrhotic rats with ascites, 8.3 +/- 2.2 nmol/ml; P < 0.05). Cirrhotic rats with ascites displayed higher plasma values of substance P (57.7 +/- 5.9 pg/ml) than cirrhotic rats without ascites (37.9 +/- 3.1 pg/ml, P < 0.05) and control rats (30.1 +/- 1.0 pg/ml, P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in plasma substance P values between control rats and cirrhotic rats without ascites (P > 0.05). No correlation was found between plasma levels of substance P and nitrate/nitrite (r = 0.318, P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Excessive formation of NO may be responsible, at least partly, for the hemodynamic derangements in cirrhosis. Although substance P may not participate in the initiation of a hyperdynamic circulation in cirrhosis, it may contribute to the maintenance of the hyperdynamic circulation observed in cirrhotic rats with ascites.     

The dynamics of daily events and well-being across cultures: When less is more.

The authors examined cultural and individual differences in the relation between daily events and daily satisfaction. In a preliminary study, they established cross-cultural equivalence of 50 daily events. In the main study, participants in the United States, Korea, and Japan completed daily surveys on the 50 events and daily satisfaction for 21 days. The multilevel random coefficient model analyses showed that (a) the within-person association between positive events and daily satisfaction was significantly stronger among Asian American, Korean, and Japanese participants than among European American participants and (b) the within-person association between positive events and daily satisfaction was significantly weaker among individuals high in global life satisfaction than among those low in global life satisfaction. The findings demonstrate a weaker effect of positive events on daily well-being among individuals and cultures high in global well-being. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Selective and nonselective wet etching of Zn0.9Mg0.1O/ZnO

Wet etch rates at 25°C for Zn_0.9Mg_0.1O grown on sapphire substrates by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) were in the range 300–1100 nm · min⁻¹ with HCl/H₂O (5×10⁻³−2×10⁻² M) and 120–300 nm · min⁻¹ with H₃PO₄/H₂O (5×10⁻³−2×10⁻² M). Both of these dilute mixtures exhibited diffusion-limited etching, with thermal activation energies of 2–3 kCal · mol⁻¹. By sharp contrast, the etch rates for ZnO also grown on sapphire by PLD were much slower in similar solutions, with rates of 1.2–50 nm · min⁻¹ in HCl/H₂O (0.01–1.2 M) and 12–54 nm · min⁻¹ in H₃PO₄/H₂O (0.02–0.15 M). The etching was reaction limited over the temperature range 25–75°C, with activation energies close to 6 kCal · mol⁻¹. The resulting selectivity of Zn_0.9Mg_0.1O over ZnO can be a high as ∼400 with HCl and ∼30 with H₃PO₄.     

Characterization and comparison of PECVD silicon nitride and silicon oxynitride dielectric for MIM capacitors

In this letter, we report on the electrical characteristic and the comparison of the metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitors with PECVD silicon nitride (SiN) and silicon oxynitride (SiON). Both capacitors are found to exhibit low leakage and high breakdown field strength, as well as absence of dispersive behavior, good linearity, and comparable quality factor behaviors.     

在线近红外光谱分析仪在汽油自动调合系统中的应用

在线近红外光谱分析仪可以实时测定汽油调合组分及成品油的多种物化性质指标如烯烃、芳烃、苯及氧化物含量、辛烷值（RON、MON）、馏程、蒸气压等。文章介绍了用于汽油自动调舍工艺中的在线近红外光谱分析仪的原理、系统组成和特点，以及在国内外的汽油调合优化控制中的实际应用情况。典型的应用实例表明，将该分析仪用于汽油自动调合工艺中，可为炼油厂带来可观的经济效益和社会效益。     

Fabrication and characteristics of high-speed implant-confined index-guided lateral-current 850-nm vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers

Process technology of high-speed implant-apertured index-guide lateral-current-injection top dielectric-mirror quantum-well 850-nm vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) has been developed. Oxygen and helium implantation for aperture definition and extrinsic capacitance reduction, dielectric mirror formation, p- and n-ohmic contact formation, VCSEL resistance, and thermal analysis were investigated. Employing this technology, GaAs/AlGaAs-based 850-nm VCSELs with small signal modulation bandwidths up to 11.5 Gb/s and an eye diagram generated at 12 Gb/s by a pseudorandom bit sequence of 2/sup 31/-1 were achieved. The bit-error rates were below 10/sup -13/. The threshold current is as low as 0.8 mA for 7-/spl mu/m-diameter current apertures and typical slope efficiencies of 0.45-0.5 mA/mW were obtained.     

Estimating block selectivities for physical database design

Access path deployment is a critical issue in physical database design. Access paths typically include a clustered index as the primary access path and a set of secondary indexes as auxiliary access paths. To deploy the right access paths requires an effective algorithm and accurate estimation of the parameters used by the algorithm. One parameter central to any index-selection algorithm is the block selectivity of a query. Existing methods for estimating block selectivities are limited by restrictive assumptions. Furthermore, most existing methods produce estimates useful for aiding the selection of secondary indexes only. Little research has been done in the area of estimating block selectivities for supporting the selection of the clustered index. The paper presents a set of methods that do not depend on any specific assumption, produce accurate estimates, and can be used to aid in selecting the clustered index as well as secondary indexes     

Very high-order microring resonator filters for WDM applications

High-order microring resonators having from 1 to 11 coupled cavities are demonstrated. These filters exhibit low loss, flat tops, and out-of-band rejection ratios that can exceed 80 dB. They achieve performance that is suitable for commercial applications.