Analysis of diffused planar and channel waveguides

A simple analytical method is presented which improves upon the Hermite-Gauss field proposed by S.K. Korotky et al. (1982) for diffused waveguides by taking into account the evanescent field in the cover region. The method is used to analyze the propagation characteristics of diffused planar and channel waveguides     

Dependence of mutation induction on fast-neutron energy in a human epithelial teratocarcinoma cell line (P3)

Cultivation of Candida albicans NIH B-792 (serotype B) at high temperature (37 degrees C) for 48 h in yeast extract-containing Sabouraud liquid medium (YSLM) provided the following findings in comparison with the findings obtained after incubation at 27 degrees C. Growth of the blastoconidia of this strain was decreased, with a dry weight of 9%, and the cells were deficient in cytokinesis. The cells did not undergo agglutination with serum factor 5 from a commercially available serum factor kit (Candida Check). Mannan (B-37-M) obtained from the cells cultured at 37 degrees C had partially lost its reactivity against serum factor 4 and lost most of its reactivity against serum factor 5 in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in contrast to that (B-27-M) at 27 degrees C. Both cells and mannan prepared by cultivation first at 37 degrees C and then at 27 degrees C entirely recovered their reactivities with serum factors 4 and 5. 1H-nuclear magnetic resonance analysis also revealed that B-37-M had lost a beta-1,2-linked mannopyranose unit and retained a phosphate group. Similar changes were observed in the three other serotype B strains used in the study. The beta-1,2-linked mannooligosaccharides longer than mannotetraose were not included among the products released from B-37-M by mild acid treatment. The results of the inhibition ELISA with a series of beta-1,2-linked mannooligosaccharides from biose to octaose (M2 to M8, respectively) showed that the reactivity against serum factor 4 was inhibited most strongly by the oligosaccharides M4 to M8 and that the reactivity against serum factor 5 was inhibited completely by relatively longer oligosaccharides, M5 to M8, indicating their participation as the antigenic factor 5 epitopes.     

Neem oil as a sand fly (Diptera: Psychodidae) repellent

The repellent action of neem oil was evaluated against sand flies under laboratory and field conditions. Concentrations of 2% neem oil mixed in coconut or mustard oil provided 100% protection against Phlebotomus argentipes throughout the night under field conditions; against Phlebotomus papatasi it repelled sand flies for about 7 h in the laboratory. Neem oil is an indigenous product and a low-cost alternative for personal protection against sand fly bites.     

Reversible parotid enlargement and pseudo-Sj?gren's syndrome secondary to hypertriglyceridemia

We describe 2 patients with a Sj?gren-like syndrome apparently secondary to hypertriglyceridemia. Both had bilateral parotitis in addition to musculoskeletal and sicca symptoms. Parotid gland histology revealed fatty infiltration with no inflammation. Therapy with dietary modification and triglyceride lowering drugs resulted in resolution of symptoms and parotid swelling in one patient. In the 2nd patient, hypertriglyceridemia was resistant to triglyceride lowering drugs, and parotid symptoms and swelling continued unabated. Our findings suggest aggressive treatment of hyperlipidemia in pseudo-Sj?gren's syndrome may result in amelioration of musculoskeletal and parotid symptoms.     

Studies on lymphocyte subpopulations and the effect of age on immune competence in turkeys

We characterized the lymphocyte subpopulations and investigated the effect of age on cellular and humoral immunity, development of lymphoid organs, and the relative proportions of CD4+ and CD8+ cells in turkeys. The mitogenic responses of peripheral T cells were poorly developed at hatch but developed rapidly after hatch and reached adult levels by 2 weeks-of-age. The average percentage of CD4+ cells was 45, 29.8, and 26.3 in the thymi, peripheral blood, and spleens, respectively, in turkeys. The mean percentage of CD8+ cells in the thymi, peripheral blood, and spleens of turkeys was 53.8, 13.6, and 15.5, respectively. Age did not influence the relative proportions of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in the spleens and peripheral blood of turkeys. The mean percentages of IgM+ cells in the bursae and spleens were 78.5 and 26.8, respectively. Day-old turkeys did not develop detectable antibodies to either thymus dependent or independent antigens. However, 2 week or older turkeys showed good humoral responses. Inoculation of BSA at hatch induced tolerance, whereas injection of SRBC did not. Analysis of relative organ weights of turkey lymphoid organs showed that spleens and thymi developed rapidly during the first week-of-age.     

Optimal nonnegative color scanning filters

In this correspondence, the problem of designing color scanning filters for multi-illuminant color recording is considered. The filter transmittances are determined from a minimum-mean-squared orthogonal tristimulus error criterion that minimizes the color error in estimates obtained from noisy recorded data. Nonnegativity constraints essential for physical realizability are imposed on the filter transmittances. In order to demonstrate the significant improvements obtained, the resulting filters are compared with suboptimal filters reported in earlier literature.     

Low-Energy Digit-Serial/Parallel Finite Field Multipliers

Digit-serial architectures are best suited for systems requiring moderate sample rate and where area and power consumption are critical. This paper presents a new approach for designing digit-serial/parallel finite field multipliers. This approach combines both array-type and parallel multiplication algorithms, where the digit-level array-type algorithm minimizes the latency for one multiplication operation and the parallel architecture inside of each digit cell reduces both the cycle-time as well as the switching activities, hence power consumption. By appropriately constraining the feasible primitive polynomials, the mod p(x) operation involved in finite field multiplication can be performed in a more efficient way. As a result, the computation delay and energy consumption of one finite field multiplication using the proposed digit-serial/parallel architectures are significantly less than of those obtained by folding the parallel semi-systolic multipliers. Furthermore, their energy-delay products are reduced by a even larger percentage. Therefore, the proposed digit-serial/parallel architectures are attractive for both low-energy and high-performance applications.     

New strategies for separations through reactions

Separations through reactions can provide reliable and economically viable alternatives to established methods of separation, particularly for close boiling substances. New strategies in ‘Dissociation Extraction’ and ‘Dissociation Extractive Crystallization’ for separation of close boiling acidic/basic mixtures have been highlighted. Separations with aqueous solutions of hydrotrope and aqueous micellar solutions have been brought out. Separations by membranes with facilitated transport is potentially attractive. This paper is dedicated to Dr L K Doraiswamy on his sixtieth birthday.     

Stabilization and termination of severe accidents in LWRs

The last 20 years of research on severe accident safety for light water reactors (LWRs) has resolved a number of issues. However, the issue of melt/debris coolability is still unresolved. At stake is the stabilization and termination of a severe accident, if ever it would occur. The stabilization and termination can be established only through the coolability of the melt or the particulate debris, which are found in-vessel, or ex-vessel, depending upon the extent of the progression of a postulated accident.This paper will review the state of the art of coolability during a severe accident for the current light water reactors (LWRs). It will also review whether the accident management actions will be effective in terminating a postulated severe accident. The attention paid to the stabilization and coolability in future LWRs will be discussed and the design solutions will be evaluated.     

Background-subtraction using contour-based fusion of thermal and visible imagery

We present a new background-subtraction technique fusing contours from thermal and visible imagery for persistent object detection in urban settings. Statistical background-subtraction in the thermal domain is used to identify the initial regions-of-interest. Color and intensity information are used within these areas to obtain the corresponding regions-of-interest in the visible domain. Within each region, input and background gradient information are combined to form a Contour Saliency Map. The binary contour fragments, obtained from corresponding Contour Saliency Maps, are then fused into a single image. An A^* path-constrained search along watershed boundaries of the regions-of-interest is used to complete and close any broken segments in the fused contour image. Lastly, the contour image is flood-filled to produce silhouettes. Results of our approach are evaluated quantitatively and compared with other low- and high-level fusion techniques using manually segmented data.