A combined adsorption-gel filtration technique has been developed for the quantitation of the cortisol-binding capacity of transcortin: Endogenous steroids are removed from plasma by adsorption on uncoated charcoal. Saturation of the "stripped" binding sites of transcortin is accomplished by equilibrating the sample with a definite amount of labeled cortisol of low specific activity (0.1 muCi/m...

Rabbit blastocysts were homogenized by sonication, and centrifuged at 105 000 g for 60 min. The pellet was resuspended and incubated in phosphate buffer containing [1 beta-3H]testosterone and a NADPH generating system. The amount of 3H2O produced was determined by liquid scintillation counting. Enzyme activity was calculated, after subtracting blank values obtained with boiled embryos, and expr...

The uranium concentration in 59 samples of bottled and tap water, mainly from northern Italy, was measured by different techniques. Results obtained by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), semiconductor alpha spectrometry and low level liquid scintillation counting with alpha/beta discrimination (LSC) have been compared. High resolution gamma spectrometry and semiconductor alp...

WIMPs (Weakly Interacting Massive Particles) are considered the main candidates for Cold Dark Matter. The ArDM experiment aims at measuring signals directly induced by WIMPs in liquid argon. A 1-ton prototype is currently developed with the goal of demonstrating the feasibility and performance of a detector with such a large target mass. ArDM aims at acting as a liquid argon TPC and additionall...