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Four additives (a sodium polyphosphate, microsilica, titania and zirconia) were tested in a magnesia alumina castable to investigate their influence on the spinel formation at high temperatures. The impact of the additives is studied with respect to both the amount of spinel formed in the burned castable and the microstructure established by the spinalization.

The aim of the study was, to evaluate the metabolic effect of HAY's diet on protein turnover, fat oxidation, respiratory quotient, body fat and weight loss. Twelve healthy adults received an individually regular diet and thereafter a corresponding isocaloric and isonitrogenous 10-day HAY-diet. Protein turnover and 13C-fat oxidation were investigated after administration of [15N]glycine and an [U-13C]algae lipid mixture. The 15N and 13C enrichment in urine and breath were measured by isotope ratio mass spectrometry. The respiratory quotient was measured by indirect calorimetry. Body fat, total body water and lean body mass were estimated by bio-electric impedance analysis. HAY's diet led to a significantly higher 13C-fat oxidation (15.4 vs. 22.0% P < 0.01), corresponding to a lower respiratory quotient (0.88 vs. 0.81; P < 0.01), whereas the protein turnover remained constant in both diets (3.06 vs. 3.05 g/kg/day). HAY's diet did not reduce total body water, lean body mass, body fat and body weight (72.2 vs. 71.4 kg).

Chum salmon Oncorhynchus ketawere injected with erythrocytic necrosis virus (ENV) to study the physiological and hematological consequences of ENV infection. Infected and control fish were held in pathogen-free seawater and sampled for 5 weeks. Physiological tests included measures of plasma cortisol, glucose, protein, and osmolality; blood lactic acid; and liver glycogen. In general, ENV-infected fish had lower plasma glucose and blood lactic acid, and higher liver glycogen concentrations than did control fish. Hematological tests included red and white blood cell (RBC and WBC) counts, hematocrit, measurement of blood hemoglobin concentration, and a determination of erythrocyte fragility. Infected fish had lower RBC counts, hematocrits, and hemoglobin concentrations; higher WBC counts; and less fragile erythrocytes than did control fish. The hematology data indicated that erythrocytes of infected fish had higher mean corpuscular volume, depressed mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, and slightly lower mean corpuscular hemoglobin. Erythrocytic inclusions were observed in the cytoplasm of RBCs from infected fish. The infection progressed steadily through week 4, after which the fish appeared to begin recovering. In a second study, fish were infected with ENV for 3 weeks, and recovery from a stress challenge test was measured. Plasma glucose concentrations and osmclality were higher in infected fish, whereas plasma cortisol and blood lactate were only slightly elevated. These studies indicate that chum salmon withstood the effects of ENV infection without in-eversible physiological consequences. However, when subjected to a stress challenge test, infected fish recovered more slowly than control fish and had increased osmoregulatory difficulties.

Static and dynamic low-angle light-scattering experiments carried out on semidilute and moderately concentrated solutions of polystyrene in toluene provide evidence for the existence of heterogeneities in the entanglement network with correlation lengths of several hundred nanometers. The slow mode showing up in the correlograms in addition to the gel mode reflects the diffusive motion of these chain associations. The tendency to form associations increases with the solute concentration and with decreasing temperature. The observations indicate that the reptation time does not represent the longest relaxation time in the system; a complete reorganization of the entanglement network requires a much longer period.

High specific activity tritiated thymidine (50·3 Ci/mM and 56 Ci/mM) and autoradiographic techniques were used to study cell renewal in the gill epithelium of the freshwater mussel, Margaritifera margaritifera. The cell renewal system in the gill epithelium of M. margaritifera appears to consist of a stem-type population in the gill furrow and gill furrow edges which supplies, through division, cells for a maturing, dividing transient transitional population along the proximal gill ridge sides which, in turn, supplies cells to a simple transient, differentiated, functional population on the distal gill ridge sides and tip. Loss of cells from the cell renewal system appears to be through cell death and/or extrusion from the gill ridge tip. No emigration or immigration of labelled nuclei out of, or into, the gill epithelium was observed. The minimum transit time from the dividing transient population to the functional population in the gill ridge tip may be no more than 24 h. We were unable to detect any radiobiological effects or the presence of cytoplasmic labelling due to the use of high specific activities. However, such possibilities cannot be eliminated from consideration in further studies.