Tiny Increments Research Articles

Does Risk of Hyperhomocysteinemia Depend on Thiol-Disulfide Exchange Reactions of Albumin and Homocysteine?

Significance: Increased plasma concentrations of total homocysteine (tHcy; mild-moderate hyperhomocysteinemia: 15-50 μM tHcy) are considered an independent risk factor for the onset/progression of various diseases, but it is not known about how the increase in tHcy causes pathological conditions. Recent Advances: Reduced homocysteine (HSH ∼1% of tHcy) is presumed to be toxic, unlike homocystine (∼9%) and mixed disulfide between homocysteine and albumin (HSS-ALB; homocysteine [Hcy]-albumin mixed disulfide, ∼90%). This and other notions make it difficult to explain the pathogenicity of Hcy because: (i) lowering tHcy does not improve pathological outcomes; (ii) damage due to HSH usually emerges at supraphysiological doses; and (iii) it is not known why tiny increments in plasma concentrations of HSH can be pathological. Critical Issues: Albumin may have a role in Hcy toxicity, because HSS-ALB could release toxic HSH via thiol-disulfide (SH/SS) exchange reactions in cells. Similarly, thiol-disulfide exchange processes of reduced albumin (albumin with free SH group of Cys34 [HS-ALB]) or N-homocysteinylated albumin are plausible alternatives for initiating Hcy pathological events. Adverse effects of albumin and other data reviewed here suggest the hypothesis of a role of albumin in Hcy toxicity. Future Directions: HSS-ALB might be involved in disruption of the antioxidant/oxidant balance in critical tissues (brain, liver, kidney). Since homocysteine-albumin mixed disulfide is a possible intermediate of thiol-disulfide exchange reactions, we suggest that homocysteinylated albumin could be a new pathological factor, and that studies on the redox role of albumin and mixed disulfide production via thiol-disulfide exchange reactions could offer new therapeutic insights for reducing Hcy toxicity.

Complications des interruptions de grossesse de 12 à 16 SA : comparaison en fonction du terme et de la méthode utilisée

ObjectiveAnalyze the complication rate of pregnancy termination between 12 and 16 weeks of gestation, depending on the method and the exact term. Material and methodsRetrospective study focuses on patients who were going through a pregnancy termination between January 2015 and December 2020 at the Necker Universitary hospital in Paris. Two methods were applied: surgical abortion or medical evacuation. We compared 4 groups of patients depending on methods and term (12-14 or 14-16 weeks of gestation). The main complications such as hemorrhage, infection, need for surgery were collected. Results414 patients were included. Blood loss and hemorrhage rate>500cc were higher for surgical abortion (3.5 vs 55% P<0.001), but the medical evacuation lead to an important rate of secondary aspiration for trophoblastic retention (14.7% vs 1.5% P<0.001). We didn’t observe any difference regarding the complication rate for medical evacuation depending on the term. However, in case of surgical abortion the increase of term from 12-14 to 14-16 weeks of gestation leads to a tiny increment of the transfusion rate (0.6% vs 4.4% P=0.04), even if the hemorrhage rate >500cc didn’t significantly differ (50,3 vs 57,9% P=0,2). ConclusionSurgical abortion between 12 and 16 weeks of gestation exposed the patients to an increased hemorrhagic risk, while the medical evacuation required more secondary aspiration for trophoblastic retention. The term of the abortion didn’t affect the complication rate, beside a tiny increase in transfusion rate for surgical abortion.

Characterization of the Systematic and Random Errors in Satellite Precipitation Using the Multiplicative Error Model

Precipitation plays a critical role in the water and energy cycle. The systematic and random errors of precipitation are usually estimated using the additive model. However, various studies have shown that the multiplicative model is more suitable to describe the errors of precipitation than the additive model. This study integrates the multiplicative model with the Willmott-AghaKouchak method to characterize the errors of four selected representative satellite precipitation products in China. Zero precipitation is addressed by adding a tiny increment, which is determined by a sensitivity analysis, enabling the examination of missed precipitation and false alarms compared with the traditional strategy that only considers hit events. The results show that the systematic errors based on the additive model are too sensitive to heavy precipitation, resulting in problems, such as unexpected fluctuations, regional biases, unsteady performance, and reverse seasonal and elevational trends in some cases. In contrast, the multiplicative model resolves these problems through balancing the contributions of light and heavy precipitation and is recommended for systematic and random error estimation.

Spatiotemporal Variability of Lightning Flash Distribution over Sri Lanka

The variation of the lightning activities over Sri Lanka and surrounded costal belt (5.750N-10.000N and 79.50E-89.000E) is studied using lightning flash data of Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) which was launched in November 1997 for NASA’s Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM). The LIS data for the period of 1998 to 2014 are considered for this study. The spatial and temporal variation of lightning activities is investigated and respective results are presented. The diurnal variation over the studied area presents that maximum and minimum flash count recorded at 1530-1630 Local Time (10-11UTC) and 0530-0630LT (00-01UTC) respectively. Maximum lightning activities over the observed area have occurred after the 1330LT (08UTC) in every year during the considered time period. The seasonal variation of the lightning activities shows that the maximum lightning activities happened in First inter monsoon season (March to April) with 30.90% total lightning flashes and minimum lightning activities recorded in Northeast monsoon season (December to February) with 8.51% of total lightning flashes. Maximum flash density of 14.37fl km-2year-1 was observed at 6.980N/80.160E in First inter monsoon season. These seasonal lighting activities are agree with seasonal convective activities and temperature variation base on propagation of Intra-Tropical Convection Zone over the studied particular area. Mean monthly flash count presents a maximum in the month of April with 29.12% of lightning flashes. Variation pattern of number of lightning activities in month of April shows a tiny increment during the time period of 1998 to 2014. Maximum annual flash density of 28.09fl km-2yr-1 was observed at 6.980N/80.170E. The latitudinal variation of the lightning flash density is depicted that extreme lightning activities have happened at the southern part of the county and results show that there is a noticeable lack of lightning activities over the surrounded costal belt relatively landmass.

Spatiotemporal Variability of Lightning Flash Distribution over Sri Lanka

The variation of the lightning activities over Sri Lanka and surrounded costal belt (5.750N-10.000N and 79.50E-89.000E) is studied using lightning flash data of Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) which was launched in November 1997 for NASA’s Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM). The LIS data for the period of 1998 to 2014 are considered for this study. The spatial and temporal variation of lightning activities is investigated and respective results are presented. The diurnal variation over the studied area presents that maximum and minimum flash count recorded at 1530-1630 Local Time (10-11UTC) and 0530-0630LT (00-01UTC) respectively. Maximum lightning activities over the observed area have occurred after the 1330LT (08UTC) in every year during the considered time period. The seasonal variation of the lightning activities shows that the maximum lightning activities happened in First inter monsoon season (March to April) with 30.90% total lightning flashes and minimum lightning activities recorded in Northeast monsoon season (December to February) with 8.51% of total lightning flashes. Maximum flash density of 14.37fl km-2year-1 was observed at 6.980N/80.160E in First inter monsoon season. These seasonal lighting activities are agree with seasonal convective activities and temperature variation base on propagation of Intra-Tropical Convection Zone over the studied particular area. Mean monthly flash count presents a maximum in the month of April with 29.12% of lightning flashes. Variation pattern of number of lightning activities in month of April shows a tiny increment during the time period of 1998 to 2014. Maximum annual flash density of 28.09fl km-2yr-1 was observed at 6.980N/80.170E. The latitudinal variation of the lightning flash density is depicted that extreme lightning activities have happened at the southern part of the county and results show that there is a noticeable lack of lightning activities over the surrounded costal belt relatively landmass.

The transformed gamma process for degradation phenomena in presence of unexplained forms of unit‐to‐unit variability

AbstractThe transformed gamma process is a suitable model for degradation phenomena where damages accumulate gradually over time in a sequence of tiny increments. Attractiveness of the transformed gamma process mainly lies in the fact that it provides a relatively easy way for dealing with phenomena in which the degradation increments over disjoint time intervals are not independent. The transformed gamma process is also a very flexible model. In fact, it is indexed by 2 functions, the “age function” and the “state function,” whose mathematical form can be chosen ad hoc for modeling the dependence of the future degradation increment of a unit on its current age and state, respectively. In this paper, the transformed gamma process is adopted to describe the degradation paths of degrading units in the presence of an unexplained form of unit‐to‐unit variability. The degradation path of each unit is described via a transformed gamma process. Heterogeneity among paths of different units is accounted for by assuming that the scale parameters of the age and state functions vary randomly from unit to unit. Under these assumptions, a quite mathematically tractable model is obtained. The main properties of the proposed model are discussed, and inferential procedures based on the maximum likelihood criterion are implemented. A simple test is presented to check the goodness of fit of the proposed model. Three applicative examples, based on real degradation data, are developed.

Estimation of Lattice Strain in 4H-SiC Commercial Wafer by Synchrotron Monochromatic X-ray Topographic Contour Mapping

Unique and excellent properties of 4H-SiC have rendered a series of successful applications in various energy-related fields such as Electric Vehicle (EV) and Smart Grid. While efforts have been made over decades towards the improvement of crystal quality, the densities of crystalline defects existing in the as-grown crystals are still significant. One of the major issues is the residual stress left by the inhomogeneous distribution of crystal defects, which will lead to lattice bending and lattice strain once the bulk as-grown crystals are sliced into wafers. Therefore, the level of lattice strain and bending equivalently characterizes the level of overall homogeneity of the sliced wafer. X-ray topography, particularly synchrotron monochromatic X-ray topography (SMBXT), enables a highly strain-sensitive technique for imaging the near surface regions of single crystals. When a strained crystal is illuminated by synchrotron monochromatic radiation, the crystal does not diffract entirely. In fact, only a limited region fulfills the Bragg’s Law and diffracts. In order for other regions to diffract, the wafer has to be rocked through the perfect Bragg’s condition with tiny increments. The variation in diffraction condition can thus be mapped as a function of position, which is caused by local lattice bending and strain. By recording the same map with the opposite diffraction vector, i.e. rotating the wafer about the original diffraction vector by 180 degree, the strain component can be separated with the bending component so that two individual maps of lattice strain and lattice bending, respectively, can be obtained. In this paper, we use this method to estimate the local lattice strain and lattice bending as a function of position in a 75mm 4H-SiC commercial substrate wafer. Results are compared with X-ray topographic images recorded simultaneously from the same wafer. Figure 1

Revolution in Psychiatric Genetics Rapidly Gains Steam

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Professional NewsFull AccessRevolution in Psychiatric Genetics Rapidly Gains SteamAaron LevinAaron LevinSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:2 Jun 2014https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.pn.2014.6a14AbstractA “sea change” in the genetic understanding of psychiatric disorders has been extraordinarily productive over the last decade.The long era of nonreproducible findings in the genetics of mental illness is over—or should be, said Matthew State, M.D., Ph.D., a professor and chair of psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, in a lecture at APA’s 2014 annual meeting in New York in May.Psychiatric genetics has made great strides in recent years, said Matthew State, M.D., Ph.D., “but it’s still a long way from a region on a chromosome to explaining human behavior.”David HathcoxThe use of the candidate-gene approach produced results that were difficult, if not impossible, to be duplicated by other labs and led to “genetics fatigue,” said State. However, a shift to genomewide association studies (GWAS) led to significant—and replicated—discoveries over the last decade. In addition to the GWAS approach, larger sample sizes and advances in high-throughput screening technology have offered novel insights into pathophysiology, he said. The most recent study from the Psychiatric Genetics Consortium (consisting of 60 groups in 17 countries) reported on the sequencing of 21,000 individuals.Costs are now lower, too. Sequencing a complete human genome cost $3 million in 1998, compared with $550 today.By one standard, at least, genetics is easy, said State. After all, there are 100 billion neurons and 100 trillion synapses in the brain, but a mere 3 billion base pairs in the human genome.“We’re looking not for a gene but for differences in the sequences or structure of the DNA that changes the instructions on how a protein is created, operates, or regulates,” he said.Genetic understanding of autism and schizophrenia is the most advanced of all mental disorders at present, with bipolar disorder close behind, he noted. Advances have been slower in studies of depression and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.In autism, early successes came with monogenic syndromes like Fragile X, but recent progress has come from gene variants with small effects. Studies of submicroscopic chromosome structure and de novo copy-number variations in autism, for instance, have led to well-replicated identification of 10 genes, most involved in chromatin modification and the regulation of gene expression. A forthcoming paper will add another 25 genes to that list, he said. If rare de novo variations appear to produce larger effects in autism, discoveries so far in schizophrenia seem to show more numerous common variations, each with small effects. Perhaps 6,000 to 10,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms contribute to schizophrenia risk, but odds ratios rarely exceed 1.2—“tiny increments overall,” he explained.Another key finding is the significant overlap in de novo gene mutations across several diagnostic categories, including schizophrenia, autism spectrum disorder, major depression, epilepsy, intellectual disability, and bipolar disorder.“Genes haven’t read any version of the DSM,” said State. “The same variation can lead to classic autism in one person or classic schizophrenia in another, and this is exploding our notion that genes equal diagnosis.”Discovery of a gene variant isn’t enough, State pointed out. Researchers have to know in which cells, in which brain region, in combination with which other genes, and at what time during development it is turned on or off. Autism gene variants discovered so far appear to operate during mid-fetal development, not an easy time for intervention, he noted.“The challenges are new, but the field is moving quickly to meet them,” State said. “This bottom-up approach offers a way to build from the genome through neurons and the brain, to complex behavior in a way that will lead to a new fundamental understanding of psychiatric disorders.” ■ ISSUES NewArchived

Flatfishes, Turtles, and Bolyerine Snakes: Evolution by Small Steps or Large, or Both?

Step size in evolution is rapidly becoming a major subject of interest to biologists. Traditionally, small changes alone were seen as significant in evolution, and any large differences between an ancestor and its descendant could be explained entirely by the accumulation of many small steps. Whether the evolution of major adaptations is mainly a matter of amassing such small increments of change, or if a significant proportion occurs through the inclusion of one or more large steps, is vital to the understanding of how evolution works. This paper begins by examining four “classic” examples of animals—flatfishes, turtles, bolyerine snakes, and gastropod molluscs—each of which has seemed difficult to interpret as resulting from a continuous series of tiny increments. Recently, however, arguments have appeared to contradict those views, and to propose instead that each of these animal groups arose through continuous adaptive modifications. While some of these arguments are more plausible than others, the view of the present author is that in none of them is there convincing evidence to conclude that the groups arose solely through gradual changes. More specifically, there is no basis to reject an evolutionary origin of the major traits in each group that included at least one principal inovation, occurring in a large, discontinuous step, preceded and followed by relatively small, more gradual changes. The broader question of how discontinuous evolution may occur is addressed through several means. These include considerations of epigenetic (sensu Waddington) development, comparative embryology, population genetics, and other approaches. Overall the phenomenon of adaptive accommodation is seen as of major importance, and its implications for ameliorating possible deleterious attributes of novel phenotypes are discussed. In the course of these analyses the doctrine that all adaptive evolution is driven by external environmental change is reviewed. It is suggested that while small adaptive changes are often closely related to shifts in specific environmental facets, the modifications associated with more major adaptations may be less so.

Sounds of intent, phase 2: gauging the music development of children with complex needs

This article reports the latest phase of research in the Sounds of intent project, which is seeking, as a long‐term goal, to map musical development in children and young people with severe, or profound and multiple learning difficulties (SLD or PMLD). Previous exploratory work had resulted in a framework of six putative music‐developmental stages set across three domains of musical engagement: reactivity, proactivity and interactivity. This was intended as a first step in enabling teachers and therapists to gauge their pupils’ levels of musical development. The research described in this paper indicates that a moderately fine‐grained observation schedule (involving three sub‐levels per Sounds of intent developmental stage) may be sufficient to show longitudinal change in the observed musical engagement of pupils with PMLD, three groups of whom participated in a specially designed programme of musical activities over a six‐month period. However, mapping the individual’s levels of attainment onto their chronological ages indicates that, generally speaking, musical progress is likely to be made in tiny increments – notionally equivalent to around one Sounds of intent level during a child’s entire time in compulsory education (4–16 in the UK). This suggests that an even finer‐grained observation scheme may be of value to practitioners seeking to chart change in the longer term. It is proposed that this should be the subject of further research, and should comprise two components: level and frequency of engagement.

By Force of Wanton Will Cease-Fire Sabbath Cutting a Path Looking for Merrill

By Force of Wanton Will Michele F. Cooper (bio) The entrail pulls togetherby force of wanton will, crawlsin tiny increments to the edgeof the salty sea, broken iceand foam distracting the pipersand gulls, nothing to turnher toward home. The ice looks enticingas she burns, angers flaringlike sun spots,tips of flames on a red hot grate. She will gain her just dessertovercoming shells and seaweedsas she strains toward redemption,turns off the sensors in her skin [End Page 82] as she navigates the cut musselsand splinters piercing like glass, reminding her she's on a chosen path,getting stronger from the pain.Should she make it to the waterline,she will douse her fire in bliss, diein the satisfaction of a stilled serenity. Mother, let her. [End Page 83] Michele F. Cooper Michele F. Cooper is the author of three books including Posting the Watch (WordTech, 2008) and founding editor of the Newport Review, Crone's Nest, and the Premier Poets chapbook series. She won Poetry Canada's Rhymed Poetry Competition and the TallGrass Poetry Competition. She recently left the outer edge of a horse farm in Portsmouth, RI, spent a year in Providence, and now writes and works as a book editor in the Cleveland area. Copyright © 2010 Bridges Association

Happy Accidents: Serendipity in Modern Medical Breakthroughs—When Scientists Find What They Are NOT Looking For, by MortonMeyers (2007) New York, Arcade Publishing

Morton A Meyers, M. D., is an emeritus professor of radiology and medicine at the School of Medicine of the State University of New York at Stony Brook where he was the chair of radiology and a leading expert on the radiology of the abdomen. He has been interested in serendipity in science and medicine ever since a chance discovery led him to better understanding of the passage of contrast suspensions (and presumably cancer cells) within the peritoneal cavity. The experience prompted Meyers to examine the stories of accidental discovery by well- and lesser-known biomedical scientists from Leeuwenhoek, who first described bacteria and protozoa, to Hofmann, who accidently discovered and then deliberately ingested LSD in the process of synthesizing a series of ergot derivatives of which lysergic acid is a core constituent. Meyers is a good story teller and many of these pithy tales of accidental discovery are extremely interesting and illuminating. In addition, Meyers patches in boxed explanatory notes that are very useful and entertaining. The book is well researched, cleverly illustrated, and copiously annotated. Meyers is a serious student and practitioner of the history of science who writes informally but lucidly. The stories are truly worth reading, not only by physician scientists but also by sophisticated high school and college students. Unfortunately Meyers loses his way when he attempts to draw lessons from the stories he reports. The rarity of critically important accidental discoveries persuades him to conclude that the scientific method is some sort of cabal that imprisons the minds of scientists and prevents them from either seeing or taking advantage of the “Aha!” moments that are uncommon in most scientific careers. He inveighs against the peer review system that awards grants based largely on what has been done rather than on what might be done— conveniently forgetting that future productivity is far more likely to occur in individuals with a track record of productivity. He believes that the present peer review system selects for boring routine experiments that add tiny increments to our knowledge base, forgetting that science moves incrementally until an “Aha!” moment moves it suddenly to a new plateau. Absent the base, there would be no sudden peaks. It is most assuredly true that some scientists are far more creative than others, but even among the most creative there are long periods of relative boredom until the next big step is made. Indeed, absent a steady output of well measured data, sudden insights would never occur. One must be measuring something in order to perceive a result that is unusual or unexpected. Good science provides the basis for a brilliant observation. Everyone in science, particularly biomedical science, wishes that he or she had not bothered with dull experiments and had focused only on the experiments that had a substantial payoff. But that is wishful thinking. The dull experiments provided the platform for the brilliant ones. The best scientists have relatively high brilliant to boring ratios, and their absolute ratios are still quite low. It is true that science and religion share the burden of dogma, and nothing is more stultifying than dogma. It is very hard to challenge long held scientific beliefs that have been supported by independent data gatherers. Such new ideas often face withering criticism from the establishment of journal editors, reviewers, and grantmakers, and that is no sin except when the obstruction to change is motivated by those who have a stake in the old order and hate change because it diminishes their stature. The fact is, however, that most so-called “breakthroughs” turn out to be “Uh-oh!” rather than “Aha!” moments. Only a few revolutionary ideas actually work out to be practical additions to diagnosis and therapy. Most of our great advances have been based on the steady accrual of excellent experiments that lead the discoverer to the next small step and (rarely) to a very big one. That may be a boring prescription for a biomedical research policy, but a strong base of first-class basic and clinical research provides a necessary environment for a sudden leap forward. Meyers wants quantum leaps without the dull infrastructure. Thankfully, he is not in charge of US research policy. But he is a very good tale bearer, and this book is well worth reading whether or not one agrees with the author's conclusions.

Tennyson and Zeno: Three Infinities

Though Tennyson left Cambridge without a degree because he refused to climb apparently unscalable wall of mathematics, (1) astronomy, physics, and the new geology of Robert Chambers and Charles Lyell continue to fire his imagination with thoughts of two immensities: the infinitely and the infinitely small. As the mourner contemplates the fossil record and the long perspectives of the earth's history, sowing the dust of continents to be in In Memoriam, he hears a female harpy cry, like the sibyl in Heraclitus: thousand types are gone; / I care for nothing, all shall go. (2) The poem also plunges Tennyson into a second kind of infinity: the vortex of an endlessly receding mindscape. Within Tennyson's picture of the earth is a picture of his own mind, and within that picture a picture of the mind that frames the pictures, and so on to infinity. In the third place, as a mystic who uses mantras to evoke God's presence, Tennyson is continually trying to map the coordinates of the Nameless of the hundred Names. Transformed by rapture and transfixed by awe, he is touched in turn by three infinities: physical infinities of space and time, infinities of a mindscape, and the metaphysical paradox of a who is absolute and infinite at the same time. 1 Tennyson most memorably evokes infinities of space and time in where the poetry is distinguished by self-retarding motions that inch toward the end of a line by tiny increments, like Zeno's tortoise: Yet all experience is an arch wherethrough Gleams that world, whose fades For ever and for ever when I move. (Ulysses, ll. 19-21) In imitation of the untravelled that gleams before Ulysses, expansive open vowels with long quantities and voiced consonants stretch and pull open the long central line. Readers can also literally see how the margin of that world coincides with a slight fading of the poem's right-hand on the page. Indeed long vowels and assonance combine with the visual impact of the poem's printed voice to create an impression of spaciousness so vast that Matthew Arnold felt these three lines by themselves take up nearly as much time as a whole book of the Iliad. (3) It is as impossible for Tennyson's Ulysses to reach the world as it is for Achilles to overtake the tortoise or for Zeno's arrow to reach its target. As in Zeno's third paradox of motion, which argues that an arrow in flight is always at rest, Tennyson often freezes motion into a still life or photograph that visualizes spatial effects through sound. Browning, by contrast, is always trying to free the arrow from the frame in which Zeno freezes it, and then to graph the trajectory it traces. A student of calculus would say that as a connoisseur of spatial effects and opsis, Tennyson is a poet of derivatives, who takes refuge from vertiginous movements by retreating to the still point of an instant in time, which appears like Zeno's arrow to possess no motion at all. Though Zeno's arrow must have instantaneous velocity, it is hard to determine at any given moment what that speed might be. To calculate such velocity we have to divide zero distance by zero time, which is impossible. As a poet who traces movement in time rather than pattern in space, Browning reverses this process by graphing integrals instead. Out of a point in space he generates the volume of a sphere or a three-dimensional star, just as the student of calculus adds up pieces of area that have no volume in themselves to create a solid object that has three dimensions. As in the hierarchical world of Pope's Essay on Man, where the chain of being is a ladder or the vertical axis of a graph, In Memoriam's great world's altar-stairs / That slope through darkness up to God (LV.15-16) approximate a 45 degree-slanted straight line. If x is the length of time Tennyson has traveled on the moving stair, then the function f(x)=x tells us how high he has climbed. …

Effect of Interelectrode Distance on Sural Nerve Action Potential Parameters

To assess differences in amplitude, latency, and duration, using a 3-cm vs. 4-cm distance between the active and reference electrodes when performing sural nerve conduction studies (NCS). Current normative data in lower-limb studies are generally based on 3-cm interelectrode differences, although 4-cm differences have been reported to be optimal in the upper limb. Prospective study comparing the onset latency, peak latency, duration, and amplitude for the sural sensory nerve action potential (SNAP) recording at two interelectrode distances in adult volunteers. Forty-three sural nerves were studied in 22 normal subjects. Peak latencies recorded with a 4-cm interelectrode distance were significantly longer than those recorded with a 3-cm distance (mean difference = 0.06 msecs [SD = 0.09, P = 0.0073]). Duration was significantly longer (mean difference = 0.03 msecs [SD = 0.07, P = 0.0270]), conduction velocities were significantly slower (mean difference = -0.7 msecs [SD 1.0, P = 0.0012]), and onset latency and amplitude were not found to differ significantly. Average differences in peak latencies, duration, velocity, onset latency, and amplitude were not correlated with gender, age, or BMI. In contrast to studies of upper-limb sensory NCS, sural SNAP parameters obtained with 3- and 4-cm interelectrode distances did not differ for onset latencies and amplitude. Peak latencies, duration, and conduction velocity differences, though statistically significant, were of insufficient magnitude to be clinically meaningful. By using a 4-cm instead of a 3-cm interelectrode difference for sural nerve studies, the small prolongation of 0.06 msecs in peak latency and tiny increment of 0.27 muV observed in our investigation is unlikely to influence the electrodiagnostician's interpretation of the study.

A Good Pine

A Good Pine Chris Offutt Every afternoon he waited on the porch for his grand-daughter to walk home from school, following a path he'd forged through the woods surrounding their house. The trail ended at the yard, like a creek feeding a pond, and he watched the treeline for the faded yellow of her coat. Five years ago, a coal truck had nudged his daughter's car over a cliff. The car landed upside down in a dry creek. She and her husband had departed life in less time than it took for a leaf to drop from a tree. Lucy had lived with him ever since. He was a father at fifteen, a combat veteran at twenty, and a grandfather by thirty-five. At age fifty he was widowed. The seasons had carved furrows in his face, turning his limbs to muscled tools covered by leather. His hair never turned gray or fell away, but remained thick and black, as if his genes had bred a permanent hat. He'd never really learned to live, but was adept at getting by, standing fast, holding ground. He rarely changed expression. The infrequent visitor to his small house at the head of the hollow often mistook the old man's countenance for inattention or stupidity—but they were wrong. He simply wore an armor of his own creation. Lucy emerged from the woods, followed by her dog. The coat she wore was too big but protected her against the December chill. Something vague inside the old man glowed briefly like the final ember of a dwindled fire. Lucy trudged toward the house, followed by her dog. Behind them the trees were empty of leaves. The bare branches were like a fur trim on the blue sweater of sky. At twelve she was still mostly girl, suddenly running thin and exuberant across the patchy grass. She raced past him into the house to turn on the TV. It was an old television that got one channel and the old man prevailed with an antenna atop a steel pole lashed to a hickory post. He gripped the pole and waited. "It's on," Lucy called. "But fuzzy!" He turned the pole in tiny increments to improve the TV's picture. "Wait," she yelled. "No, back up!" He gave the pole a slight reverse. "Okay, Papaw," she said. "That's good." He released the metal pole and blew into his palms. Gloves he reserved for serious work, not this daily ritual of drawing television 57 reception for her favorite show, Mr. Cartoon. They'd begun this when her parents were still alive. He believed that maintaining simple traditions would help her accept the terrible loss. As Lucy grew, she had abandoned his lap to sit beside him, then gradually migrated toward the other end of the couch, where she now sprawled with her shoes off. He joined her, sitting heavily on the worn cushion. "I saw him today," she said. "We had a field trip to town and saw Mister Cartoon for real. He did some magic tricks and showed Road Runner. I liked it a lot. Mr. Cartoon looked short but it was really him, I could tell. He wore the striped coat and sunglasses like he always does. Then he asked for questions—and guess what Papaw—he picked me! So I asked him why he always wore sunglasses. He said it was because if he didn't wear them, someone would ask why he never wore them. That didn't make sense to me, but then he gave me an autographed picture of himself. Want to see it?" She withdrew the photo from a math book for his nodding admiration. Mister Cartoon came on the screen and Lucy stared intently as if seeing a lost relative returning for a holiday visit. She laughed at the cartoons, and he arranged on his face an expression he knew from long experience would pass for a smile. Television was a habit that had never adequately fastened to him. It reminded him of a campfire—steady motion that never got anywhere. He'd learned not to look directly at a fire because the...

Use of microwaves in the prevention of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. melonis infection during the commercial production of melon plantlets

One of the main ways in which Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. melonis—the causal agent of fusarium wilt in melon—is transferred, is the re-use of propagation trays by greenhouse personnel. The aim of this work was to investigate the effects of different levels of microwave energy, produced by a commercial microwave oven, on suspensions of the microconidia of this fungus. The viability of the fungus in the substrate normally used in nurseries for plantlet production was also tested following its experimental contamination and irradiation. Microconidial viability declined as the energy applied increased, and total eradication was achieved at low levels of irradiation in both the suspension and the substrate. The increase in the price of melon plantlets resulting from such a treatment would only be about €2.6×10 −4, a tiny increment over the current sale price to growers of €0.19.

Asymptotic prey profitability drives star-nosed moles to the foraging speed limit

Foraging theory provides models for predicting predator diet choices assuming natural selection has favoured predators that maximize their rate of energy intake during foraging. Prey profitability (energy gained divided by prey handling time) is an essential variable for estimating the optimal diet. Time constraints of capturing and consuming prey generally result in handling times ranging from minutes to seconds, yet profitability increases dramatically as handling time approaches zero, providing the potential for strong directional selection for increasing predator speed at high encounter rates (tiny increments in speed increase profitability markedly, allowing expanded diets of smaller prey). We provide evidence that the unusual anatomical and behavioural specializations characterizing star-nosed moles resulted from progressively stronger selection for speed, allowing the progressive addition of small prey to their diet. Here we report handling times as short as 120 ms (mean 227 ms) for moles identifying and eating prey. 'Double takes' during prey identification suggest that star-nosed moles have reached the speed limit for processing tactile information. The exceptional speed of star-nosed moles, coupled with unusual specializations for finding and eating tiny prey, provide new support for optimal foraging theory.

An Elastic “Sieve” to Probe Momentum Space: Gd Chains on W(110)

Electron scattering conditions of one-dimensional nanostructures are explored in angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy. Tiny increments of the Gd submonolayer coverage on W(110) lead to strong modifications in the spectra. It is shown that the Gd overlayer represents an elastic superlattice of chains which performs a systematic mapping of the electronic band dispersion of the W substrate through a quasicontinuous series of umklapp wave vectors. Conversely, a single valence-band spectrum contains essential and precise structural information readily accessible by comparison to the band dispersion.

Covariates and random effects in a gamma process model with application to degradation and failure.

The gamma process is a natural model for degradation processes in which deterioration is supposed to take place gradually over time in a sequence of tiny increments. When units or individuals are observed over time it is often apparent that they degrade at different rates, even though no differences in treatment or environment are present. Thus, in applying gamma-process models to such data, it is necessary to allow for such unexplained differences. In the present paper this is accomplished by constructing a tractable gamma-process model incorporating a random effect. The model is fitted to some data on crack growth and corresponding goodness-of-fit tests are carried out. Prediction calculations for failure times defined in terms of degradation level passages are developed and illustrated.

The Cuisine of Sacrifice among the Greeks (review)

Reviewed by: The Cuisine of Sacrifice among the Greeks Paul Corby Finney Marcel Detienne and Jean-Pierre Vernant . The Cuisine of Sacrifice among the Greeks. Trans. by Paula Wissing. Chicago & London: University of Chicago Press, 1990. Pp. vii + 276pp. This is an informative and mostly well-executed volume of essays. There are ten separate entries: M. Detienne, "Culinary Practices and the Spirit of Sacrifice;" J.-P. Vernant, "At Man's Table: Hesiods Foundation Myth of Sacrifice;" J.-L. Durand, "Greek Animals: Toward a Topology of Edible Bodies;" and "Ritual as Instrumentality;" M. Detienne, "The Violence of Wellborn Ladies: Women in the Thesmophoria;" [End Page 224] M. Detienne and J. Svenbro, "The Feast of Wolves, or the Impossible City;" J.-P. Vernant, "Food in the Countries of the Sun;" F. Hartog, "Self-Cooking Beef and the Drinks of Ares;" S. Georgourdi, "Sanctified Slaughter in Modern Greece: The 'Kourbánia' of the Saints;" and, finally, J. Svenbro, "A Bibliography of Greek Sacrifice." The last item (pp. 204-17) is admittedly a valuable part of the whole, but it would have meant a great deal more to non-specialists if it had been annotated. The book has forty-seven pages of endnotes, a good subject index, four photographic plates (mediocre to poor in quality) and nineteen plates illustrating line drawings (competently executed by F. Lassarrague). The plates show aspects of Greek sacrifice based on the evidence of ceramic iconography. The translation is mostly successful, although in her rendering of the French, Wissing occasionally gives unidiomatic solutions. She also invents English words, e.g., (on p. 3) "incarceral" space. This should have been "place of confinement, imprisonment or detention;" "incarceral" n'existe pas. The nine analytical essays (originally published in 1979 in Paris) cover the full range of subject matter: diet, politics, religion, social order and the relationship between myth and cult. The approach of all the authors is anthropological and sociological—there is some unwelcome structuralist jargon and some useful functionalist analysis (especially conspicuous in Durand's excellent second essay). With the exception of Georgourdi, who is concerned with modern (i.e., Christian) subject matter, all these writers presume that there is a relationship and continuity between Greek myth and Greek cult. This presumption is, of course, a major crux; interested readers should also look at the intelligent and sobering caveat of Dirk Obbink, "Dionysus Poured Out: Ancient and Modern Theories of Sacrifice and Cultural Formation" (in Masks of Dionysus, ed. T. H. Carpenter and C. A. Faraone [Ithaca, 1993] 65-86). If it is true (as I believe it is) that blood sacrifice constitutes an important part of the world into which Christianity was born, then it follows that this volume could and should be read with profit by persons interested in Patristics and early church history. Animal sacrifice was a hallmark of Greek civilization in the first millennium B.C.E. It was one of the main cultural lynchpins securing the axles that permitted Greek culture to roll forward (only by tiny increments at first) from Helladic obscurity to Classical and Hellenistic radiance. The Greek sacrificial system was complex. It involved the husbandry of animals, their consecration, and even their grant of consent to be sacrificed (typically identified by shaking or a nod of the victim's head), libations, first fruits (often hair or a piece of the ear), the securing of fire, the slitting of the victim's throat and the blood letting, the skinning and preparation of the victim, the roasting and boiling of the victim, the distribution of the viscera and other body parts (e.g., mēria μηρια: thigh bones in their fat) to the gods and to the various human participants (according to their station). The realia of sacrifice included the precinct, the temple, the sacred image (or images), the altar, the knife, the cauldron, the skewer (for roasting splagkhna [σπλάγχνα], and the spit. All of these features were integral and essential. One of the most visible [End Page 225] boundaries separating Greeks from barbarians (Scythians, for example, as discussed by Hartog) was sacrificial cult. By Greek standards (pace Herodotus), Scythian cult was inferior because it lacked the full complement of Hellenic sacrificial signs. For example, as nomads...