Dietary squalene increases tissue sterols and fecal bile acids in the rat

Feeding 1% squalene increased markedly the concentrations of squalene and methyl sterols in each serum lipoprotein class, intestinal mucosa, liver and also in adipose tissue. It also increased cholesterol concentration of the liver and serum VLDL, and esterified cholesterol in serum LDL as well as fecal bile acids. The results suggest that absorbed dietary squalene contributes to some extent to the squalene content of adipose tissue, effectively increases the overall cholesterol synthesis and enhances cholesterol elimination preferentially as fecal bile acids.     

An exploratory study of the behaviour of crude oil spills under ice

An experimental spill of 0.38 m³ of warm (55°C) crude oil under the ice cover of a fresh water pond with an underwater viewing port is described. Temperatures, dissolved hydrocarbon concentrations and oil slick behaviour and areas were determined. Some oil recovery and disposal methods were tested. An attempt has been made to quantify the rates of heat and mass transfer from the oil using reported values for transfer coefficients. The results indicate that the oil slick adopted a thickness of about 2 cm under the ice, that heat transfer from the oil was relatively fast and complete, that dissolution mass transfer is slow resulting in oil concentrations in the water of only 18 to 287 μg/l in the vicinity of the spill. Some recommendations are made for further studies to elucidate the nature and rates of the relevant physical processes and thus assist in assessing the environmental impact of under-ice oil spills.     

Quality metrics in high-dimensional data visualization: an overview and systematization

In this paper, we present a systematization of techniques that use quality metrics to help in the visual exploration of meaningful patterns in high-dimensional data. In a number of recent papers, different quality metrics are proposed to automate the demanding search through large spaces of alternative visualizations (e.g., alternative projections or ordering), allowing the user to concentrate on the most promising visualizations suggested by the quality metrics. Over the last decade, this approach has witnessed a remarkable development but few reflections exist on how these methods are related to each other and how the approach can be developed further. For this purpose, we provide an overview of approaches that use quality metrics in high-dimensional data visualization and propose a systematization based on a thorough literature review. We carefully analyze the papers and derive a set of factors for discriminating the quality metrics, visualization techniques, and the process itself. The process is described through a reworked version of the well-known information visualization pipeline. We demonstrate the usefulness of our model by applying it to several existing approaches that use quality metrics, and we provide reflections on implications of our model for future research.     

平面四杆机构高阶和复合点阶综合的CAD几何法

提出四连杆机构高阶和复合点近似综合的CAD几点法，确定机构连杆的位置、速度和加速度与轨迹曲线的点，一阶导数和二阶导数的等效关系，基于几何约束和尺寸驱动技术，构造一个基本四连杆模拟机构，再根据机构高阶和复合点阶综合的任务，由基本四连杆模拟机构分别构造出高阶和复合点阶近似综合模拟机构，采用修改尺寸和尺寸动态变化技术，检查和分析尺寸变化对机构的影响因素，干涉情况，确定机构的理想形状，计算机模拟结果表明，该方法不仅快捷，直观，而且具有求解精度高和重复性好的优点，为连杆机构的高阶和复合点阶综合提供有效的工具。     

On the semantics of noun compounds

This paper provides new insights on the semantic characteristics of two and three noun compounds. An analysis is performed using two sets of semantic classification categories: a list of 8 prepositional paraphrases previously proposed by Lauer [Designing statistical language learners: experiments on noun compounds, Ph.D. Thesis, Macquarie University, Australia] and a new set of 35 semantic relations introduced by us. We show the distribution of these semantic categories on a corpus of noun compounds and present several models for the bracketing and the semantic classification of noun compounds. The results are compared against state-of-the-art models reported in the literature.     

Pneumococcal immune complexes in the diagnosis of lower respiratory infections in children

BACKGROUND: In recent years serologic methods have been applied to assess pneumococcal etiology of pneumonia and other respiratory tract infections. Antigen and antibody assays have shown to be insensitive, especially in young children. The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of circulating immune complexes in the diagnosis of pneumococcal lower respiratory infection in children. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Pneumococcal immune complexes (IC) containing antibodies to species-specific C-polysaccharide, to mixtures of type-specific capsular polysaccharides or to a protein antigen, pneumolysin, were studied in the sera of 449 children with lower respiratory tract infection. RESULTS: Circulating ICs were found in 68 (15%) children; 46 (68%) of them were demonstrated in acute and 43 in convalescent serum. In 5 (7%) of the 68 IC-positive patients pneumococcal antigen was present in acute serum; those patients formed 18% of the 28 cases with antigenemia. An antibody response between paired sera to any of the 3 pneumococcal antigens studied was observed in 14 (21%) IC-positive children; they formed 23% of the 60 cases with an antibody response. In total ICs were positive in 51% of all the 134 pneumococcal cases diagnosed by any method. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that the measurement of circulating ICs is more sensitive than other serologic methods for the diagnosis of pneumococcal lower respiratory infection. In infants, however, it was as insensitive as antigen and antibody assays.     

Energy harvesting with a cymbal type piezoelectric transducer from low frequency compression

In this paper a piezoelectric energy harvester based on a Cymbal type structure is presented. A piezoelectric disc ?35?mm was confined between two convex steel discs ?35?mm acting as a force amplifier delivering stress to the PZT and protecting the harvester. Optimization was performed and generated voltage and power of the harvester were measured as functions of resistive load and applied force. At 1.19?Hz compression frequency with 24.8?N force a Cymbal type harvester with 250?μm thick steel discs delivered an average power of 0.66?mW. Maximum power densities of 1.37?mW/cm³ and 0.31?mW/cm³ were measured for the piezo element and the whole component, respectively. The measured power levels reported in this article are able to satisfy the demands of some monitoring electronics or extend the battery life of a portable device.     

Ion-implanted capacitively coupled silicon strip detectors with integrated polysilicon bias resistors processed on a 100 mm wafer

Double-sided silicon strip detectors with integrated coupling capacitors and polysilicon resistors have been processed on a 100 mm wafer. A detector with an active area of 19 × 19 mm² was connected to LSI readout electronics and tested. The strip pitch of the detector is 25 μm on the p-side and 50 μm on the n-side. The readout pitch is 50 μm on both sides. The number of readout strips is 774 and the total number of strips is 1161. On the p-side a signal-to-noise of 35 has been measured using a ⁹⁰Sr β-source. The n-side has been studied using a laser.     

Analysis of a new multiband multiport circuit for phase detection applications

A new multiband multiport circuit is presented in this letter. This circuit, designed for microwave phase detection applications, can be used in multiband direct conversion front-ends, phased-array antenna drivers or other microwaves amplitude or phase measurements. A complex vector, named /spl Gamma/, based on multiport output voltages, is introduced for direct RF phase measurements. An excellent match of simulation and measurement results is obtained in all frequency bands.     

Vertical external-cavity surface-emitting laser for dual-wavelength generation

We report an optically pumped vertical external-cavity surface-emitting laser that is designed for emission at two wavelengths simultaneously. Single transverse mode continuous-wave (CW) operation is demonstrated at the wavelengths of 984 and 1042 nm. The device produces a CW optical power of 140 mW for the 984-nm component and 115 mW for the 1042-nm component, exhibiting over 10% efficiency. At a high pump power, self-pulsation of the components appeared on top of the CW-mode components. The maximum total output of 1 W was obtained at the pump power of 9 W.