ABSTRACT. The temporal changes in the size and pH of digestive vacuoles (DV) in Paramecium caudatum were reevaluated. Cells were pulsed briefly with polystyrene latex spheres or heat‐killed yeast stained with three sulfonphthalein indicator dyes. Within 5 min of formation the intravacuolar pH declined from ∼7 to 3. With the exception of a transient and early increase in vacuolar size, vacuole condensation occurred rapidly and paralleled the acidification so that vacuoles reached their lowest pH and minimal size simultaneously. Neutralization and expansion of vacuole size began when vacuoles were GT8 min old. No labeled vacuoles were defecated prior to 21 min after formation but almost all DV were defecated within 1 h so that the digestive cycle of individual vacuoles ranged from 21 to 60 min. Based on these size and pH changes, the presence of acid phosphatase activity, and membrane morphology, digestive vacuoles can be grouped into four stages of digestion. The DV‐I are GT6 min old and undergo rapid condensation and acidification. The DV‐II are between 4 to 10 min old and are the most condensed and acidic vacuoles. The DV‐III range in age from 8 to ∼20 min and include the expanding or expanded vacuoles that result from lysosomes fusing with DV‐II. The DV‐IV are GD21 min old, and since digestion is presumably completed, they can be defecated. The rise in intravacuolar pH that accompanies vacuole expansion suggests that lysosomes play a role in vacuole neutralization in addition to their degradative functions. The acidification and condensation processes in DV‐I appear to be unrelated to lysosomal function, as no acid phosphaiase activity has been detected at this stage, but may be related to phagosomal functions important in killing food organisms, denaturing proteins prior to digestion, and preparing vacuole membrane for fusion with lysosomes.

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Although solid, geometrically tapered microwave absorbers are preferred due to their better performance, they are bulky and must have a thickness on the order ofλor more. The goal of this study was to design lightweight absorbers that can reduce the electromagnetic reflections to less than −10 dB. We used a very simple approach; two waste materials, that is, rice husks and tire dust in powder form, were used to fabricate two independent samples. We measured and used their dielectric properties to determine and compare the propagation constants and quarter-wave thickness. The quarter-wave thickness for the tire dust was 3 mm less than that of the rice husk material, but we preferred the rice-husk material. This preference was based on the fact that our goal was to achieve minimum backward reflections, and the rice-husk material, with its low dielectric constant, high loss factor, large attenuation per unit length, and ease of fabrication, provided a better opportunity to achieve that goal. The performance of the absorbers was found to be better (lower) than −20 dB, and comparison of the results proved that the hollow design with 58% less weight was a good alternative to the use of solid absorbers.

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