Laboratory and analytical studies of the effects of multipulselightning current on metal oxide arresters

Multiple stroke lightning ground flashes can impose surges of exceptional severity on the arresters used to protect exposed distribution system equipment. This paper reports laboratory and analytical studies of the effects of representative multiple impulse currents on zinc-oxide surge arresters of distribution class. The results indicate that sextuple 8/20 μs currents can cause damage to arresters not evident with standard lightning current tests and so are worthy of inclusion in testing Standards     

Effects of Ajoene on lymphocyte and macrophage membrane-dependent functions

An increasing flow of evidences collected on elementary forms of learning processes in selected animal models evidentiates some mechanisms which can represent the basic cellular principles underlying plastic changes: 1. 5HT and second messengers of nucleotide type (like cAMP) have a pivotal role in the learning process. 2. In almost all short-term learning processes the modifications are subserved by a mechanism of protein phosphorylation. 3. In various animal models the modulation of K+ and Ca2+ channels is the molecular mechanism for learning. Experiments performed in sensory T neuron of the leech indicate that the modulation of Na+/K+ electrogenic pump is one of the fundamental mechanism for learning. 4. In long-term plastic changes, the most important finding is that newly synthesized proteins are formed. 5. In addition to what has been observed in the Aplysia model, where changes in synaptic efficacy represent the basic principles of memory storage, in the leech it has been demonstrated that a molecular machinery present in a single neuron can adapt the activity of the cell to environmental stimuli.     

Keratin 17 gene expression during the murine hair cycle

Treatment of rats with phenytoin (DPH), an anti-epileptic drug, results in lower tissue thyroid hormone (TH) levels and interferes with the metabolic pathway of TH. To test the hypothesis that DPH affects the enterohepatic cycle of TH and, thus, the kinetics of TH turnover, we performed a kinetic experiment (three-compartment analysis) and a steady-state, double-isotope equilibrium experiment in rats treated for 3 weeks with DPH (50 mg/kg body weight per day) and in untreated controls. This included measurements of TH and TH metabolite levels, as well as the activities of enzymes involved in the TH metabolic pathway. DPH treatment resulted in a decrease in the production of thyroxine (T4) (by 25%) and tri-iodothyronine (T3) (by 37%), a decrease in the T3 concentration in all three pools, and a redistribution of T4 from the fast to the slow pool. The amount of T4 increased in intestinal contents and feces by 66% and 71% respectively. Expressed as a fraction of daily TH disposal, fecal loss of T4 was enhanced from 10 to 23% and that of T3 from 16 to 21%. An increase in T4 and T3 UDP-glucuronyltransferase activities was observed, suggesting that the increased fecal loss of T4 and T3 is secondary to an increased biliary output of their glucuronides. The reduced secretion of TH and increased fecal clearance during DPH treatment can lead in the long run to depletion of TH stores.     

CYSTINE LYASES IN PLANTS: A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW

Cystine lyases cleave L-cystine through aβ-elimination reaction producing thiocysteine (cysteine persulfide), pyruvate and ammonia. They are responsible for the initial reaction that produces characteristic flavors and aromas in important vegetables of the genus Brassica. In this review, an overview of these plant C-S lyases, comparison with alliin lyases andβ-cystathionases, purification protocols, substrate specificity, function and biochemical characteristics will be discussed. The importance of these enzymes to food science will also be examined.     

Low-temperature CV dispersion in MOS devices

A study is reported of the dispersion seen in the accumulation and depletion regions, of the C-V curve in n-channel MOS devices in the temperature range 30-45 K. It is concluded that the dispersion observed in these experiments is caused by time-constant effects, due to the substrate resistance and not caused by dopant atom emission time constant effects. From the measured admittance as a function of temperature and frequency, the acceptor energy level is determined to within ±0.4 meV     

Influence of production method on direction of processing heavy Ashal'chinsk crude

Translated from Khimiya i Tekhnologiya Topliv i Masel, No. 6, pp. 7–9, June, 1992.     

Finding nondegenerate Hopf bifurcation points for four-dimensional two-parametric systems

We establish a numerically feasible algorithm to find a simplicial approximation A to a certain part of the boundary of the set of stable (or Hurwitz) polynomials of degree 4. Moreover, we have that . Using this, we build an algorithm to find a piecewise-linear approximation to the intersection curve of a given surface contained in ⁴ with . We have also devised an efficient computer program to perform all these operations. The main motivation is to find the curve of nondegenerate bifurcation points in parameter space for a given 2-parametric Hopf bifurcation problem of dimension 4.