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The use of herbal plants as traditional medicines has a century long history. Plantain (Plantago lanceolata L.) is a perennial herb containing bioactive components with free radical scavenging activities. An isotope dilution technique using [U-13C]glucose was conducted to determine the effect of plantain on the responses of plasma glucose metabolism to exogenous insulin infusion in sheep. Six crossbred sheep (three wethers and three ewes; mean initial BW=40±2 kg) were fed either a mixed hay of orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata) and reed canarygrass (Phalaris arundinacea) (MH-diet) or mixed hay and fresh plantain (1 : 1 ratio, dry matter basis, PL-diet) and exposed to a thermoneutral (TN, 20°C; 70% relative humidity (RH)) environment or a heat exposure (HE, 30°C; 70% RH) for 5 days using a crossover design for two 23-day periods. The isotope dilution was conducted on days 18 and 23 of the experimental period during TN and HE, respectively. Plasma concentration of α-tocopherol was greater (P

Abstract The first successful geodetic Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) observations to Antarctica were made on baselines from Syowa Station (Antarctica) to Tidbinbilla (Australia) and to Kashima (Japan) in January 1990. Regular geodetic experiments started in 1998 with the installation of a permanent VLBI terminal at Syowa Station. These observations are conducted at the standard geodetic VLBI frequencies of 2.3 and 8.4 GHz, S- and X-Bands. In the first year, the 11-m multipurpose antenna at Syowa Station observed together with the 26-m radio telescope of the University of Tasmania in Australia and the 26-m radio telescope of the Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory in South Africa. From 1999, the experiments were expanded to also include the O’Higgins Station in Antarctica, Fortaleza in Brazil and Kokee on Hawaii. From 1999 until the end of 2003, 25 observing sessions have been reduced and analyzed using the CALC/SOLVE geodetic VLBI data reduction package. The results show that the horizontal baseline of Syowa-Hobart is increasing at the rate of 57.0±1.9 mm/year. The baseline Syowa-Hartebeesthoek is also increasing, but at the lower rate of 9.8±1.9 mm/year. The VLBI result of 2.0±3.1 mm/year and the GPS result of −1.9±0.7 mm/year for the Syowa-O’Higgins horizontal baseline support the hypothesis of one rigid Antarctic plate without intra-plate deformation, which is consistent with the NNR-NUVEL-1A global plate motion model. The location of the Euler pole of the Antarctic plate by VLBI is estimated as 59.7°S and 62.6°E with a rotation rate of 0.190 deg/Myr, while that by GPS in our study is estimated as 60.6°S and 42.2°E with a rotation rate of 0.221 deg/Myr. These pole positions are slightly different to that implied by the NNR-NUVEL-1A model of 63.0°S and 64.2°E with a rotation rate of 0.238 deg/Myr. VLBI observations over a longer time span may resolve small discrepancy of current plate motion from the NNR-NUVEL-1A model. The consistency of the VLBI coordinates with the GPS coordinates at Syowa Station, after correction for the local tie vector components between the two reference markers, is also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a novel bulk-type electrooptic frequency shifter which provides unity-conversion efficiency and operates over 10 GHz. The principle of frequency shifting is based on Bragg diffraction from a sinusoidal traveling-phase grating produced by combination of slant periodic-domain inversion and a collinear traveling microwave. In the experiment, frequency shifting was demonstrated at 16.25 GHz, with a maximum conversion efficiency of 82%. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]