The Effects of Fatty Acids and Their Derivatives on the Intestinal Absorption of insulin in Rat

Insulin solution (25 U/ml/kg, pH 8.0) was administered with 50 mM of various C8-Cl8 fatty acid and derivative absorption enhancers to the duodenum, colon and rectum of fasted normal rats under sodium pentobarbital anesthesia. Solutions were administered directly into ligated or sealed intestinal segments. Blood was sampled periodically from the jugular vein and blood glucose levels determined. The maximum decrease in blood glucose level and area under the depression curve were used to estimate bioavailability. Enhancing effects rectally were further investigated in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats in both the fasted and non-fasted states. Blood glucose levels and serum insulin concentrations were determined.     

Analysis of secretion and expression of platelet-derived growth factor in cultured endothelial cells from stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rat

1. We characterized the endothelial cell-derived growth factors of SHRSP and Wistar Kyoto rats (WKY), respectively and found that platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-B chain related growth factor constituted a major portion of the mitogenic activity of the conditioned media of endothelial cells from both animals. There were no remarkable qualitative differences between the endothelial cell-derived growth factors of SHRSP and WKY. 2. Northern analysis revealed that the expression of PDGF-B chain was 2-4-fold enhanced in cultured aortic endothelial cells of SHRSP. This enhanced expression of PDGF-B chain, which may be induced under chronic hypertensive conditions, is suggested to contribute to the increase in endothelial cell-derived growth factors reported in this animal.     

The Second Canadian Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease Consensus: moving forward to new concepts

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a disease with serious consequences that may result in significant impairment in quality of life and disease morbidity. Across all grades of severity of symptoms and severity of underlying esophageal disease, proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) provide therapeutic gains over prokinetics (PKs) or H2 receptor antagonists (H2RAs). The potential cost effectiveness of using medications with higher acquisition costs that may lower health care costs overall is often disregarded when conducting cost comparisons with medications having lower 'up-front' costs. Limiting therapy to less effective agents condemns many patients to protracted suffering, repeated physician visits and needless reinvestigation of symptoms that could have been resolved by appropriate initial therapy. Based on current data, use of any classification of symptom severity as a basis for selecting one class of therapeutic agents over another for first line therapy (i.e. PKs, H2RAs for 'mild' GERD, versus a PPI for 'severe' disease) is unwarranted.     

Composition of lithium aluminoborosilicate glass and abrasive

The properties of glasses of the lithium-aluminoborosilicate system were investigated, namely, the density, spreadability, thermal expansion, and nature of crystallized phases at various temperatures. A crystal-optical analysis was conducted. The glasses were used to prepare abrasive compositions. Their strength properties were studied as a function of the composition of the glass binder and the regime of heat treatment.Translated from Steklo i Keramika, No. 3, pp. 27–30, March, 1996.     

Evaluation of boundary conditions for a mathematical model of heat transfer in a glass furnace

The results of a thermal engineering analysis of a bath furnace heated by natural gas with the surface area of the melting part equal to 303.3 m² and equipped with six pairs of burners are presented. Practical recommendations are given for increasing the efficiency of the furnace. The data can be used for developing a mathematical model of heat transfer in a glass furnace.Translated from Steklo i Keramika, No. 3, pp. 9–11, March, 1996.     

Calculi with the greatest number

Translated from Kibernetika i Sistemnyi Analiz, No. 3, pp. 71–86, May–June, 1995.     

Fluidization of the active component of catalysts in catalytic formation of carbon assisted by iron and nickel carbides

A series of vanadium-tin mixed oxide catalysts have been prepared by the solid-state reaction of V₂O₅ and SnO₂ at 1250°C. The fresh and the used catalysts have been characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). High temperature oxygen chemisorption (HTOC) has been employed to titrate the coordinatively unsaturated vanadia sites. Ammoxidation of mesitylene has been carried out on these catalysts and an optimum composition of vanadium is arrived at. Better yields of tricyanobenzene (TCB) compared to literature values are obtained. A good correlation between the oxygen uptake and the TCB yield extends the applicability of HTOC to the fused oxide system.IICT Communication No. 3507.     

Solar collectors for the Beirut climate

The performance of solar collector systems is optimized for the Beirut climate with respect to the following parameters: angle of tilt and orientation, plate emissivity and number of glass covers. The Beirut hourly ambient temperature, wind speed, wind direction and the monthly averaged hourly and daily global, beam and diffuse radiation are used in the calculation of the useful harnessed energy, collector's efficiency, storage-tank temperature and other relevant parameters.

The optimal thermal performance of the solar collector in Beirut is obtained for a south-facing collector all the year with a slope angle equal to latitude +15° in winter and latitude −15° in the summer. The use of a selective surface of low emissivity in the collector gives a higher useful energy gain of about 25% in summer and 10% in winter as compared with a nonselective plate surface. The collector's daily efficiency, under optimal conditions, varies from 55 to 65% depending upon the month of the year.