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We hypothesized that nitric oxide (NO) may play a role in homeostatic sleep regulation. To test this hypothesis, we studied the sleep deprivation (SD)-induced homeostatic sleep responses after intraperitoneal administration of an NO synthase inhibitor, Nomega-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME, a cumulative dose of 100 mg/kg). Amounts and intensity of sleep were increased in response to 8 h of SD in control rats (n = 8). Sleep amounts remained above baseline for 16 h after SD followed by a negative rebound. Rapid eye movement sleep (REMS) and non-REMS (NREMS) intensities were elevated for 16 and 4 h, respectively. L-NAME treatment (n = 8) suppressed the rebound increases in NREMS amount and intensity. REMS rebound was attenuated by L-NAME in the first dark period after SD; however, a second rebound appeared in the subsequent dark period. REMS intensity did not increase after SD in L-NAME-injected rats. The finding that the NO synthase inhibitor suppressed rebound increases in NREMS suggests that NO may play a role as a signaling molecule in homeostatic regulation of NREMS.

The effects of Nuclear Elastic Scattering (NES) on the properties of Cat-D and D-3 He plasmas are investigated, with special attention given to the discrete nature of NES. A space-independent, linear multi-group method is used for the study. It is found that NES can significantly reduce the nr requirements for plasma ignition; for plasmas characterized by relatively large cyclotron radiation losses, this reduction can exceed 50%. In addition, the treatment of the discrete NES behaviour is shown to be essential for an accurate prediction of the superthermal ion distribution functions.