Nod factors produced by Rhizobium leguminosarum biovar viciae induce ethylene-related changes in root cortical cells of Vicia sativa ssp. nigra

OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship between urinary albumin excretion and ultrasonographically assessed morphology of the common carotid artery in hypertensive men with and without non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: An outpatient clinic in a city hospital. PATIENTS: Hypertensive male patients (n = 25) with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus and non-diabetic hypertensive male patients (n = 94) aged 50-72 years, randomly selected from a larger study group. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Overnight urinary albumin excretion and B-mode ultrasound examinations of the carotid artery. RESULTS: Among the diabetic patients the logarithm of the overnight urinary albumin excretion was independently and significantly associated with the common carotid artery intima-media thickness, which was also true after adjustment for concomitant cardiovascular disease. In the non-diabetic group there was no association between intima-media thickness and urinary albumin excretion. No relationship between the occurrence of plaque and urinary albumin excretion was observed in any of the study groups. The results were reproducible at a re-examination after 3 years using the same methods. CONCLUSION: Among the hypertensive men with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, an independent and significant relationship, reproducible after 3 years, was found between urinary albumin excretion and the intima-media thickness of the common carotid artery. No such relationship was found in the group of non-diabetic hypertensive males.     

METHODS FOR THE ANALYSIS OF C4 TO C10 FATTY ACIDS IN BEER,WORT AND CARBOHYDRATE SYRUPS

Methods have been developed for the analysis of C4 to C10 fatty acids in beer, wort and carbohydrate syrups. The methods are based on the adsorption of the aqueous samples on to solid supports followed by removal of the fatty acids with organic solvents. The methods are suitable for routine batchwise analysis of fatty acids and the reproducibility of the analysis and recoveries of the acids are generally good. Problems often encountered with analysis of C4 to C10 fatty acids and possible solutions are also discussed.     

Novel, wide bandwidth, micromachined ultrasonic transducers

Surface micromachined, capacitive ultrasonic transducers have been fabricated using a low thermal budget, CMOS-compatible process. This process allows inherent control of parameters such as membrane size and thickness, cavity size and the intrinsic stress in the membrane to be achieved. Devices fabricated using this process exhibit interesting properties for transduction in air at frequencies in excess of 1 MHz when driven from a standard ultrasonic voltage source. Experiments have been performed with devices containing silicon nitride membranes of variable thicknesses over a 2 μm thick air cavity and with device dimensions of up to 5 mm square. This is much larger than has been reported for a device with a single membrane. Calibration measurements using 1/8 inch microphones in air, and miniature PVDF hyrdophones in water, have been performed. The dependence on d.c. bias voltage is examined, involving static membrane deflection measurements and received peak voltages. Pulse-echo and pitch-catch mode operation have been achieved. Interferometric measurements of membrane displacement have been performed in air to illustrate the membrane deflection characteristics. Operation in liquids is also discussed     

Millimeter-Wave Profiled Corrugated Horns for the Quad Cosmic Background Polarization Experiment

In this paper we report on the design and validation process for the profiled corrugated horn antennas, which feed the bolometer array of a cosmology experiment known as QUaD located at the South Pole. This is a cosmic background radiation polarization project, which demands precise knowledge and control of the optical coupling to the signal in order to map the feeble E- and B-polarization mode structure. The system will operate in two millimeter wavelength bands at 100 and 150 GHz. The imaging horn array collects the incoming signal via on-axis front-end optics and a Cassegrain telescope, with a cold stop in front of the array to terminate side-lobe structure at an edge taper of ?20dB. The corrugated horn design process was undertaken using in-house analytical software tools, based on modal scattering, specially developed for millimeter -wave profiled horn antennas. An important part of the instrument development was the validation of the horn design, in particular to verify low edge taper levels and the required well-defined band edges. Suitable feed horn designs were measured and were found to be in excellent agreement with theoretical predictions.