Effects of sodium salicylate on the febrile response and increased levels of cyclic AMP in cerebrospinal fluid during endogenous pyrogen-induced fever in rabbits

To further evaluate the causality between endogenous pyrogen (EP)-induced fever and cyclic adenosine-3',5'-monophosphate (cyclic AMP) level, the effects of sodium salicylate (SS) on the febrile response and increased levels of cyclic AMP in both cerebrospinal fluid (c.s.f.) and plasma during EP-induced fever in rabbits were observed. The results suggest that cyclic AMP is probably involved in the central mediation of EP-induced fever and that increased concentration of cyclic AMP in c.s.f. associated with EP-induced fever is not the result of temperature elevation but appears to be caused by the increased synthesis in the central nervous system. In addition it is confirmed that blood is impossibly a contributory source of increased cyclic AMP in c.s.f. during EP fever, and that SS may act subsequent to the increase in cyclic AMP.     

Vascular morphology by three-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging

A three-dimensional examination of blood vessels is provided using MR data from seven cases. The vascular surfaces are constructed with an algorithm that automatically follows the selected artery or vein and generates a projected three-dimensional gradient shaded image. Fast 3DFT pulse sequences were optimized to enhance the time-of-flight contrast of the intravascular region. By increasing the surface threshold value in a three-dimensional head study, the flesh of a patient's face was peeled away to demonstrate the superfacial temporal artery. Gated cardiac images show the great vessels and cardiac chambers. A three-dimensional view of the aorta shows an irregular surface in the vicinity of an adrenal tumor. 3D MR exams provide a non-invasive technique for assessing vascular morphology in a clinical setting.     

Surface-field induced interband tunneling in InAs

Metal/insulator/semiconductor junctions are prepared on degeneratep-type InAs substrates with hole concentrations ranging from 2.3×10¹⁷ cm^–3 to 2.7×10¹⁸ cm^–3. The low work function of the top metal Yb, Al, or Au and charged interface states influence a two-dimensional (2D) electron inversion layer at the InAs surface. The insulator barrier that is formed by thermal oxidation is designed sufficiently thin, so that the bias voltage applied at the metal electrode mainly drops across the depletion layer separating the electron channel from the bulk. The current-voltage (I–V) characteristics exhibit strong negative differential conductance due to interband, tunneling from the 2D subband into the 3D valence band with peak-to-valley current ratios up to 3.1, 18, and 32 at 300 K, 77 K, and 4.2 K, respectively. In agreement with a theoretical model based on coherentelastic tunneling, the form of the I–V curves resembles those of double-barrier resonant tunnel devices rather than those of 3D Esaki diodes. The series resistance is obtained from the saturation of the differential conductance dI/dV at high forward bias and from the shift of structures in d² I/dV ² arising from phonon assisted tunneling.Dedicated to G. Lautz on the occasion of his 65th birthday     

Untersuchungen zur Wechselwirkung von gasf?rmigem molekularem Iod mit Silberoberfl?chen mittels XPS und AES

Summary The adsorption of gaseous molecular iodine on clean silver surfaces proceeds in the first stage by dissociative chemisorption. After the formation of half a monolayer of chemisorbed iodine atoms the formation of silver iodide begins, which forms a very regular overlayer on top of the substrate. Both iodine species can be distinguished due to a difference in chemical shift of the M₄N₄, ₅N₄, ₅-Auger transitions. After completion of this overlayer further iodine uptake is slowed down significantly. Above an overlayer thickness of about 10 nm a further progress of the reaction cannot be followed anymore due to the limited information depth of XPS.     

Crystallization and morphology of poly(vinylidene fluoride)/poly(3‐hydroxybutyrate) blends. I. Spherulitic morphology and growth by polarized microscopy

The development of the poly(3‐hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) morphology in the presence of already existent poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) spherulites was studied by two‐stage solidification with two separate crystallization temperatures. PVDF formed irregular dendrites at lower temperatures and regular, banded spherulites at elevated temperatures. The transition temperature of the spherulitic morphology from dendrites to regular, banded spherulites increased with increasing PVDF content. A remarkable amount of PHB was included in the PVDF dendrites, whereas PHB was rejected into the remaining melt from the banded spherulites. When PVDF crystallized as banded spherulites, PHB could consequently crystallize only around them, if at all. In contrast, PHB crystallized with a common growth front, starting from a defined site in the interfibrillar regions of volume‐filling PVDF dendrites. It formed by itself dendritic spherulites that included a large number of PVDF spherulites. For blends with a PHB content of more than 80 wt %, for which the PVDF dendrites were not volume‐filling, PHB first formed regular spherulites. Their growth started from outside the PVDF dendrites but could later interpenetrate them, and this made their own morphology dendritic. These PHB spherulites melted stepwise because the lamellae inside the PVDF dendrites melted at a lower temperature than those from outside. This reflected the regularity of the two fractions of the lamellae because that of those inside the dendrites of PVDF was controlled by the intraspherulitic order of PVDF, whereas that from outside was only controlled by the temperature and the melt composition. The described morphologies developed without mutual nucleating efficiency of the components. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 41: 873–882, 2003     

Mathematical modelling of the oxidation of nickel titanium alloys

A one-dimensional bulk reaction model for the oxidation of nickeltitanium is formulated, with preferential oxidation of titaniumbeing included. The modelling is directed at the better understandingof the dominant mechanisms involved in the oxidation processand their significance for the biocompatibility of the alloy.Two different regimes for the relative diffusivities of oxygenand the metals are investigated. By assuming fast bulk reactions,different asymptotic structures emerge in different parameterregimes and the resulting models take the form of moving boundaryproblems. Different profiles of nickel concentration are obtained:in particular a nickel-rich layer (observed in practice) ispresent below the oxide/metal interface for the case when oxygenand the metals diffuse at comparable rates.