The role of sexually dimorphic medical preoptic area of the hypothalamus in the sexual behaviour of male and female rats

The human placental alkaline phosphatase (PLAP) gene was analysed for its utility as a histochemically detectable reporter gene in transgenic mice. A reporter gene was made by linking the PLAP structural gene to an enhancer-promoter element from the human beta-actin gene. This gene was inserted into the mouse genome by transfection of embryonic stem cells, and by microinjection of fertilized eggs. Histochemical staining showed that the transgene was uniformly expressed in four of four stable ES cell lines, and in all ten tissues examined from adult animals from five lines of transgenic mice. Non-transgenic cells did not stain. These results suggest that the human PLAP gene will be of utility in studies requiring phenotypic marking of cells in tissues of mice.     

Kinetics of oxidation of pseudocumene in the vapor phase

The kinetics of pseudocumene oxidation in the vapor phase with tin vanadate as catalyst have been studied over the following ranges of the variables: Oxygen concentration, 0.909 to 2.857 mole/m³; pseudocumene concentration, 0.071 to 0.125 mole/m³; temperature, 260 to 320°C; space time, 22.5 to 90 × 10⁴ g. catalyst/mole sec. Oxidation-reduction models have been found to describe the kinetics adequately. The mechanism is found to remain the same throughout the temperature range covered.     

A Learning Model for Inventory of Slow-Moving Items

Probabilistic inventory models assume that demand follows a stable distribution with known parameters. This assumption is reasonable where substantial demand history is available under stable conditions. However, for slow-moving items, such as maintenance items, usually little history is available. In such cases, the assumption of known parameters seems unnecessarily arbitrary. We present here a model that takes into account the uncertainty of the unknown parameters, determines the optimal inventory decision, updates the original distribution assumptions as the passage of time increases our information concerning the parameters, and determines optimal policy.     

Characteristics and composition of indian wood apple seed and oil

Indian wood apple seed (Feronia elephantum Correa) constituting 6% (dry weight basis) of the fruit, contains 34% oil and 28% protein. The kernel comprises 62% of the seed. The oil is yellow with an iodine value 131, saponification value 192, unsaponifiable matter 1%. Fatty acid profile of oil by GLC is: palmitic 19.3, stearic 7.3, oleic 27.2, linoleic 19.8 and linolenic 26.4%.     

Performance of Cylindrical Parabolic Collector with Automated Tracking System

Parabolic solar collector collects the radiant energy emitted from the sun and focuses it at a point. Parabolic trough collectors are the low cost implementation of concentrated solar power technology that focuses incident sun light on to a tube filled with a heat transfer fluid. However, the basic problem with the cylindrical parabolic collector without tracking was the solar collector does not move with the orientation of sun. Development of automatic tracking system for cylindrical parabolic collectors will increase solar collection as well as efficiency of devices. The main aim of this paper is to design, fabricate and analyze the performance of parabolic collector with automated tracking system. The automated tracking mechanism is used to receive the maximum possible energy of solar radiation as it tracks the path of sun. The performance of the parabolic trough collector is experimentally investigated with the water circulated as heat transfer fluid. The collector efficiency will be noted.     

Burner platform for sub-atmospheric pressure flame studies

Hencken burner flames at sub-atmospheric pressure were characterized experimentally to show their unique structure for detailed flame studies. Methane–air flames at 16.7 kPa were shown to be lifted and stably anchored at significant distances (up to 18 mm) above the burner surface, while maintaining a flat and one-dimensional laminar structure and near adiabatic conditions. Particle image velocimetry was used to identify the weakly stretched regime (strain rate = 20–70 s^?1) of the flames, as well as the flame speeds, while OH number densities were measured through laser-induced fluorescence and calibrated through absorption. The flame speeds and quantitative OH profiles were compared to one-dimensional and two-dimensional flame simulations using the chemical kinetic mechanisms of USC Mech II and GRI-3.0 and showed good agreement. Flames produced by a Hencken burner at sub-atmospheric pressure were shown to accurately represent a steady, laminar, nearly one-dimensional, minimally curved, weakly stretched, and near adiabatic flame, which could be compared to one-dimensional freely-propagating flame simulations with minimal corrections and extrapolations.     

Agave sisalana,a biosorbent for the adsorption of Reactive Red 120 from aqueous solution

The textile industry is one of the largest producers of dye effluent. Treatment of these effluents has to be cost effective hence a number of precursors have been studied as a viable alternative adsorbent. Sisal fibre was converted to activated carbon by chemical methods. Sisal fibre was activated with different activating agents such as H₃PO₄, HCl, HNO₃, NaOH and KOH. The adsorption of Reactive Red 120 (RR 120) dye onto sisal fibre activated carbon (SFAC) from aqueous solution was investigated. Adsorption experiments were carried out at different dye concentrations, initial solution pH and carbon dosage. Batch adsorption studies were carried out using activated carbon produced using phosphoric acid yielded better carbon as it good results in terms of Methylene Blue number and Iodine number. These carbons were used to study the batch adsorption studies. Methylene Blue number and Iodine number of SFAC were found to be 240 mg/g and 855 mg/g, respectively. The BET surface area of the carbon was 885 m²/g. The batch experiments adsorption isotherm studies fitted well to Langmuir isotherm and the adsorption capacity was found to be 110 mg/g. Adsorption kinetics data were tested using pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order models. Kinetic studies showed that the adsorption data followed a pseudo-second-order reaction.