Metallothionein as a biomarker for mercury in tissues of rat fed orally with cinnabar

Cinnabar, as one of the most widely used mineral drugs in traditional Chinese medicines, has been proven to have prominent curative effects in clinical use for more than 2000 years. But the safety and toxicity of the drug has been under constant debate in clinic usage. Metallothionein (MT) contains about 30% of cysteine in the molecule, and plays an important detoxification role against heavy metals. In this study, it was used as a biomarker to assess mercurial accumulation in rats fed orally with cinnabar. After feeding rats with cinnabar by gastric gavage at different dosages and at different times, the distribution of heavy metals (including mercury, copper and zinc) and MT was investigated among rat tissues, including liver, kidney, heart, brain, testis and blood. Metals and MT determinations were carried out using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP‐MS) and a modified mercury saturation assay technique respectively. The results indicated that mercury was easily accumulated in the tissues of rats exposed to cinnabar, especially in kidney. For example: at a feeding dosage of 5 g kg^?1 (bw) for 4 weeks, the mercury concentrations in kidney were 13, 8.7, 21.6 and 26 times those in liver, testis, brain and heart respectively; and at 2.5 g kg^?1 (bw) for 2 weeks, the mercury concentrations in kidney were 21, 2.1, 3 and 21 times those in liver, testis, brain and heart respectively. In addition, mercury in kidney and liver of all cinnabar groups was significantly higher than that of the control group (P < 0.01). A high positive correlation observed between MT concentrations and mercury levels in both liver and kidney (R² = 0.9299, P < 0.02 for liver; R² = 0.9923, P < 0.0008 for kidney) indicated that MT could be used as a biomarker for mercury in tissues. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Analytical formulas for the velocity field induced by an infinitely thin vortex ring

Three different analytical solutions are presented for a potential vortex ring using three different streamfunctions. Verification studies confirm that all three approaches are valid. It is found that the solution obtained using the Biot–Savart law is the most efficient method due to its simplicity. It is shown that all analytical results are accurate to within machine accuracy and sample calculations are included. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Operator‐splitting method for the analysis of cavitation in liquid‐lubricated herringbone grooved journal bearings

This paper presents an operator‐splitting method (OSM) for the solution of the universal Reynolds equation. Jakobsson–Floberg–Olsson (JFO) pressure conditions are used to study cavitation in liquid‐lubricated journal bearings. The shear flow component of the oil film is first solved by a modified upwind finite difference method. The solution of the pressure gradient flow component is computed by the Galerkin finite element method. Present OSM solutions for slider bearings are in good agreement with available analytical and experimental results. OSM is then applied to herringbone grooved journal bearings. The film pressure, cavitation areas, load capacity and attitude angle are obtained with JFO pressure conditions. The calculated load capacities are in agreement with available experimental data. However, a detailed comparison of the present results with those predicted using Reynolds pressure conditions shows some differences. The numerical results showed that the load capacity and the critical mass of the journal (linear stability indicator) are higher and the attitude angle is lower than those predicted by Reynolds pressure conditions for cases of high eccentricities. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Spatial macroscopic structure of a pulsed microsecond discharge in barrier-metal gaps with a nonuniform electric field distribution

Electric and spatial characteristics of a pulse-periodic microsecond barrier discharge are investigated in different geometries—triangular prism, plate, and corrugated electrode—that are in contact with a dielectric plate and form a dihedral angle with it. It is established that, in the space of the dihedral angle, the regions of discharge represent alternating cylindrical layers with the axes lying on the contact line. The first conducting layer is formed at some distance from the contact edge of the electrode. The number of layers and their localization are determined by the angle formed between an electrode and the dielectric plate. A physical model explaining the main features of the structure formation is proposed.     

Specific features of the strain-induced order-disorder phase transition and its mechanisms

In the present paper, the methods of x-ray diffractometry are used to investigate the influence of plastic deformation on the long-range atomic order in alloys with L1₂, L1₂(M), and L1₂(MM) superlattices. The influence of ordering energy, initial values of the long-range order parameter, and average sizes of antiphase domains on the specific features of the dependence of long-range order parameter on the strain degree is considered. It is demonstrated that the wetted strain-induced order-disorder phase transition occurs with rapid accumulation of antiphase boundaries that play an important role in the destruction of long-range atomic order.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 9, pp. 21–32, September, 2004.     

Electron Metal-Dielectric Phase Transitions in Semiconductors under Pressure

The effect of uniform pressure on the character of metal-dielectric transitions in compensated weakly- and highly doped semiconductors (WHDCS) is considered. The influence of hybridization of resonance quasilocalized impurity states with band continuum states on the transition is shown. Minimum metallic conductivities in p-CdSnAs₂ are determined for Mott and Anderson transitions. Special features of the metal-dielectric transformation in weakly-doped narrow- and high energy-gap semiconductors are discussed for the case of hydrogen-like impurities. Anderson localization in WHDCS is also considered. Phase diagrams are presented.     

Effective equation of nonlinear pulse evolution in a randomly anisotropic medium

Propagation of a light pulse through a weakly inhomogeneous optical fiber is analyzed. The non-linear envelope equation describing the evolution of polarized pulses is determined by statistical properties of inhomogeneities in the optical fiber. The isotropic Manakov system of equations is shown to be applicable in the presence of high-frequency small-scale defects in the fiber. In the presence of only large-scale inhomogeneities, the signal dynamics are described by an anisotropic system of equations.