An optical instrumentation using a sensor with a sensordummyagainst noises on sensor and transmission line

This short paper discusses the method of effectively canceling equal status normal mode noise not only on a sensor line but also on a transmission line of an optical instrument using a sensor with a sensordummy resistance     

Effect of preparation technique on the properties of Mo-containing Al-MCM-41

The Al-MCM-41 has been used as support to prepare Mo-containing catalysts. The 12- molybdophosphoric heteropoly acid (HPMo) is used as initial compound. The catalysts are synthesized by two different methods: incipient impregnation with aqueous solution of the acid and mechanochemical synthesis. The samples were tested in the reaction of the thiophene hydrodesulfurization after activation with mixture H₂ + H₂S. The effect of the preparation method of the catalysts on their physicochemical and catalytic properties has been studied. A partial destruction of the loaded compound is observed in mechanochemically treated sample whereas the aggregates are formed from the particles of different size in the impregnated sample. The specific surface area of the sample prepared by mechanical–chemical treatment decreases 2–3 times, while the total pore volume is about four times lower. The HDS activity is higher on the impregnated sample than on the mechanochemically treated one.     

The anti-tumor arotinoid Ro 40-8757 protects bone marrow from the toxic effects of 5-fluorouracil

We have previously shown that strychnine mimics the cytoprotective properties of glycine in renal proximal tubule (RPT) suspensions exposed to antimycin A (AA). The aims of this study were to determine whether the cytoprotective properties of strychnine applied to various types of nephrotoxicants and to examine the temporal aspects of the cytoprotection of glycine and strychnine. Tubular release of LDH activity was used as a marker of cell death. Glycine (2 mM) or strychnine (1 mM) added 5 min prior to the toxicant decreased LDH release in rabbit RPT suspensions exposed to 25 microM tetrafluoroethyl-L-cysteine (TFEC), 10 microM HgCl2, 0.5 mM t-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP), or 0.2 mM bromohydroquinone (BHQ) for 4 hr, or 2 mM sodium cyanide (NaCN) for 2 hr. The relative rank order of effectiveness of glycine and strychnine was NaCN = TFEC > BHQ > DCVC > TBHP > HgCl2. The temporal aspects of strychnine and glycine protection were examined by exposing RPT to either AA or TFEC for 1 or 3 hr, respectively, and then adding either 1 mM glycine or 1 mM strychnine. Glycine and strychnine decreased LDH release in AA-treated RPT at 1.25 and 2 hr and TFEC-treated RPT at 4 hr. In addition, when RPT exposed to AA or TFEC and treated with strychnine or glycine were washed at either 1 or 4 hr, protection was eliminated at later time points. When glycine was added to RPT treated with either PCBC, TFEC, or DCVC 5 min prior to or 30, 60, 120, and 180 min following toxicant addition, LDH release was reduced at all time points. These results demonstrate that strychnine and glycine protect RPT from a variety of diverse nephrotoxicants, strychnine and glycine do not need to be present at the time of toxic insult, strychnine and glycine cytoprotection is reversible, and strychnine and glycine act in the late phase of necrotic cell injury.     

Soft-decision Viterbi decoding with diversity combining formulti-beam mobile satellite communication systems

Diversity combining methods for mobile satellite communication systems employing convolutional encoding and soft-decision Viterbi decoding are evaluated. Computer simulation clarifies that the pre-Viterbi-decoding maximal ratio combining method has better performance than other methods in Rician fading channels. The simulation results agree with the Pe (bit error probability) performance derived from the numerical analysis for slow fading using the approximate Pe performance of Viterbi decoding in AWGN (additive white Gaussian noise) channels and the probability density function of Rician fading. Applying this diversity method to the multi-beam mobile satellite communication systems, a satellite beam diversity reception scheme is proposed. A computer simulation result shows that the proposed scheme decreases the packet error rate of the control signals to less than 1/100 around the satellite beam boundary     

New color TV cameras for ultraviolet, near infrared and visiblelight

Two kinds of TV cameras have been developed that are capable of showing the wavelengths of ultraviolet, infrared, and visible light by means of a false color method. One is sensitive to wavelengths from 250 to 650 nm (ultraviolet to yellow). It can simulate the color vision of the honey bee and other insects, reproducing the nectar guide of a flower or displaying the sex of a cabbage white moth, which is indistinguishable to the naked eye. The other is sensitive to a wider wavelength of 250 to 1,050 nm (ultraviolet to near infrared). According to the filter selected, it obtains not only visual images of invisible light information but also pictures same as those from an ordinary color camera. These TV cameras can be applied in many fields, including science, art, medicine, and industry     

Input to verb learning: Evidence for the plausibility of syntactic bootstrapping.

The theory of syntactic bootstrapping proposes that children use the syntactic frames in which verbs are presented as a source of information about their meaning. The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which maternal type and diversity of verb frames are consistent with the requirements of that theory. The uses of 25 common verbs in the speech of 57 mothers to their 1- to 2-year-old children were tabulated and parsed for syntactic frame. Analyses revealed 2 major findings concerning the use of verbs in child-directed speech: (a) Verbs in different semantic categories appear in different syntactic environments, and (b) individual verbs are distinguished by the set of frames in which they appear. These findings support the plausibility of the syntactic bootstrapping hypothesis by demonstrating that children's input provides the structural cues to verb meaning that the syntactic bootstrapping procedure requires. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Latest advances in camcorder technology

Camcorders have been developed to be compact with high performance. Latest advancement of key technologies and devices such as digital signal processing LSI, six-layer printed circuit board with micro chips, high-speed power lens with linear motor, 103 K pixels 0.7-in LCD electronic viewfinder, and high-energy Li-ion battery are described. High-band format is also explained     

Examination of the role of oxygen in the photografting of methacrylic acid on a polyethylene film with a mixed solvent consisting of water and organic solvents

The photografting of methacrylic acid (MAA) on a linear low‐density polyethylene film (thickness = 30 μm) under air and nitrogen atmospheres was investigated at 60°C in mixed solvents consisting of water and an organic solvent, with xanthone as a photoinitiator. The organic solvents used were acetone, methanol, tetrahydrofuran, and dioxane. A maximum percentage of grafting occurred at a certain concentration of the organic solvent in the mixed solvent. This was observed for the systems under both air and nitrogen. The grafting reaction under air exhibited an induction period, but the rate of grafting after the period was greater than that under nitrogen. The formation of poly(ethylene peroxide)s by photoirradiation seemed to be a factor for the accelerated photografting under air. On the basis of attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy of the grafted film, the MAA‐grafted chains of the sample prepared under air tended to penetrate more deeply inside the film than those of the sample prepared under nitrogen. The resulting grafted films exhibited a pH‐responsive character: the grafted films shrank in an acidic medium but swelled in alkaline medium. This was evaluated from measurements of dimensional changes in the grafted films. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 89: 992–998, 2003     

Some teachings from the history of social psychology.

Explores several questions relating to historical inquiry in the field of social psychology. During its Golden Age, 1945–1970, social psychology was busy defining different fields and paradigms, building theories, and verifying hypotheses; there was little time and need for reflection. The 1970s saw an era of doubts, critique and crisis, during which the constituted knowledge bases were undermined on a number of fronts: methodological, ethical, and theoretical. Examples of how critical history may serve a heuristic function for social psychology are given. The question of how to conduct historical inquiry is addressed, even for as problematic an object as social psychology's development in France. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)