Arsenic in drinking water and incidence of urinary cancers

To investigate the effects of a new nonNMDA antagonist on the trisynaptic pathways in the hippocampus, the author examined kainate(KA)-induced generalized seizures in rats. A novel nonNMDA antagonist, YM90K, showed the blockade of the Schaffer collaterals in 2-deoxyglucose study (2-DG) and that the CA1-2 pyramidal cells of the hippocampus were preserved seven days after the KA injections. On the other hand, the control and MK-801 (NMDA-antagonist) treated rats did not depress the Schaffer collaterals and showed persistent hypermetabolism of glucose in the CA1 pyramidal cell layer, where neurons were not preserved seven days later. 2-DG was useful to reveal the effects of nonNMDA antagonist on the KA-induced generalized seizures. This suggests that YM90K is a potent nonNMDA antagonist and that it has a neuroprotective effect in rats.     

Epidemiology of enuresis in Turkish children

The treatment and favorable outcome of a bitch with uterine torsion and two retained fetuses are described. The condition was corrected surgically by ovariohysterectomy. Complications (i.e., septic shock, peritonitis, and hemostatic abnormalities) were managed with aggressive medical therapy. Torsion of the gravid uterus in dogs is a life-threatening condition which can have a successful outcome if medical complications encountered in the pre- and postoperative periods are treated quickly and effectively.     

Structural disorder in BZN-based pyrochlores

Careful structural investigations have been carried out on the Bi_1.5ZnNb_1.5O₇ based dielectric system (of A ₂ B ₂O₇ pyrochlore structure type) in an attempt to understand the origin and tolerance of relaxor behavior in such materials. A highly structured, characteristic diffuse intensity distribution was observed in electron diffraction patterns, which arises from static disordering caused by local short range ordering of Bi and Zn ions on the pyrochlore A sites and associated structural relaxation of the O’A ₂ sub-structure. This structural disordering is not affected by B site substitution of the Nb⁵⁺ ions by Sn⁴⁺ or Ti⁴⁺ ions. The result is of significance for optimizing the dielectric properties of bismuth-based advanced ceramics.     

Superconductive delay-line technology and applications

Microwave analog signal-processing filters have been realized in the form of coupled niobium striplines on silicon dielectric substrates. Device responses with ± 2-dB amplitude accuracy and 9°-rms phase error have been achieved in amplitude-weighted filters with 37.5 ns of dispersion and 2.3-GHz bandwidths. Relative side-lobe levels of -26 dB and less are currently obtained. The achievable dispersion for stripline circuits on a single pair of 5-cm-diameter, 125-μm-thick wafers is limited to about 40 ns by the electro-magnetic coupling between neighboring lines. To achieve greater dispersion two approaches are under development: (1) Stripline circuits are being fabricated on multiple wafer pairs which are physically stacked and electrically concatenated to produce dispersive delay lines with 4-GHz bandwidth and 75-ns dispersion time. Phenolic resin is used as an adhesive to ensure the mechanical integrity of the stacked structure. (2) A technique to fabricate dense stripline circuits on very thin (15-μm) single-crystal silicon superstrates supported by thicker substrates has been demonstrated and preliminary results will be described. A chirp-transform system capable of real-time spectral analysis has been constructed using a pair of the superconductive delay-line filters. A resolution of 43 MHz over an unprecedented 2400-MHz bandwidth with amplitude uniformity of ±1 dB and side-lobe levels of -18 dB was demonstrated.     

Electrochemical doping of graphene with toluene

The electrical properties of graphene are known to be modified by chemical species that interact with it. We investigate the effect of doping of graphene-based devices by toluene (C₆H₅CH₃). We show that this effect has a complicated character. Toluene is seen to act as a donor, transferring electrons to the graphene. However, the degree of doping is seen to depend on the magnitude and polarity of an electric field applied between the graphene and a nearby electrode. This can be understood in terms of an electrochemical reaction mediated by the graphene crystal.