Pulsed infusion technique

One of the first Pulse Stream generators was the 100 kW test rig situated in the Humber estuary, which currently feeds power into a chemicals company on the banks of the river. The shells of the blades of one of these Pulse Stream 100 tidal generators were manufactured in glass fibre/epoxy polymer composites the spar was fabricated in carbon fibre/epoxy polymer composites. The spar, which is thick compared with the shell, was manufactured by the infusion technique, but for subsequent generators the prepreg technique will be used to make the spars. Figure 10.8 shows the Pulse Stream 100 tidal generator. 

Finally, both constant infusion and pulse label techniques using isotopic labels to estimate whole body protein turnover share the common premise that there is a homogeneous metabolic nitrogen pool of which the plasma constitutes an integral part. That this is in fact an oversimplification, has been shown from animal studies [438]. Despite these, and other objections, work will continue in the search for a reliable method for the estimation of protein synthesis, catabolism and turnover in man. To the clinician such a method would provide information about nitrogen loss from the body resulting from malnutrition, postoperative trauma, burns or severe infection and perhaps more importantly an indication of the success or otherwise of the specific therapeutic regime implemented. 

Forman and Fridovich (1973) using an indirect assay whereby O2 was generated either by the action of xanthine oxidase on xanthine or by the mechanical infusion of potassium superoxide in tetrahydrofuran. The generated OJ was allowed to react with ferricytochrome c or with tetra-nitromethane and the product formation was monitored spectroscopically. Details of the two assays are given in Section 11.3. Addition of superoxide dismutase inhibits the formation of products. A rate constant of 2 X 10 M sec was determined for all three enzymes. This value agreed with the rate constant determined by pulse radiolysis for the copper/zinc enzyme (Klug-Roth et al., 1973 Fielden et al., 1974). The mechanism of action of the superoxide dismutases has been investigated by the technique of pulse radiolysis which is described in Section II.2. The bovine erythrocyte copper/zinc enzyme is the most studied form as far as the molecular and catalytic properties are concerned (Rotilio and Fielden,... 

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