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The article discusses the perspectives of massage therapy professionals on areas of improvement within their field, covering topics such as representation in marketing materials, the need for respect for different massage techniques, and the desire for better insurance options and recognition within the healthcare industry. It explores diverse viewpoints on restructuring the industry, improving education standards, and fostering a sense of community among practitioners.

The article offers information highlights the contribution of waist gunner Jack A. Stern in the growth of Paris Cleaners including his innovations to build the company, role of David Stern, chief executive officer of the company, and company's transition from dry cleaning to commercial laundering.

The current major Machine Translation (MT) evaluation effort, funded by the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), shows that when compared to expert human translators, MT systems perform only about 65% as well on the average. In this paper it is argued that despite their overall poor performance, MT software can be used as a powerful focal point to improve second language (L2) skills. The paper describes the evaluation of Computronics Corporation's Targumatik (Hebrew-->English), a PC-based MT system running under DOS, and shows how each problem and potential obstruction to learning can be overcome by means of discovery procedures using a set of tools and procedures called the 'learning algorithm.'

Bile acid sequestrants (BAS) have shown antidiabetic effects in both humans and animals but the underlying mechanism is not clear. In the present study, we evaluated cholestyramine in Zucker diabetic fatty (ZDF) rats. Although control ZDF rats had continuous increases in blood glucose and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) and serum glucose and a decrease in serum insulin throughout a 5-week study, the cholestyramine-treated ZDF rats showed a dose-dependent decrease and normalization in serum glucose and HbA1c. An oral glucose tolerance test showed a significant increase in glucose-stimulated glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1), peptide YY (PYY), and insulin release in rats treated with cholestyramine. Quantitative analysis of gene expression indicated that cholestyramine treatment decreased farnesoid X receptor (FXR) activity in the liver and the intestine without liver X receptor (LXR) activation in the liver. Moreover, a combination of an FXR agonist with cholestyramine did not reduce the antihyperglycemic effect over cholestyramine alone, suggesting that the FXR-small heterodimer partner-LXR pathway was not required for the glycemic effects of cholestyramine. In summary, our results demonstrated that cholestyramine could completely reverse hyperglycemia in ZDF rats through improvements in insulin sensitivity and pancreatic beta-cell function. Enhancement in GLP-1 and PYY secretion is an important mechanism for BAS-mediated antidiabetic efficacy.

Abstract:This article examines the organizational roles of IT executives in seven Fortune 500 companies. Results show that many CIOs and IT leaders increasingly assume change and risk management roles. They must also orchestrate cultural and political interests of multiple stakeholders to succeed in implementing projects. CIOs and IT senior staff in large, global organizations experience pressures from internal and external clients to facilitate business problem solving as well as helping with technical solutions. These professionals are required to take on expanded roles, including assisting their clients meet market expectations and performance goals through the use of new technologies. Implications and lessons from our findings for effective IT project leadership are reported.

Chemical differentiation of the Earth into a buoyant, olivine-rich upper mantle, along with protocrustal materials, a perovskite-rich deeper layer, and an iron-rich core occurred continuously during accretion. Dense komatiitic liquids and eclogitic solids sank to mid-mantle depths. The large-ion lithophile elements and primordial gases accumulated in the proto-upper mantle. During subsequent evolution, most of the crustal elements were sweated out of the upper mantle; the layer at the base of the mantle collected light dross from the core and dense dregs from the mantle and reacted with the core. This fractionation and gravitational sorting of primordial materials according to density, solubility, silicate compatibility, and melting point became irreversible as the planet grew because of the effect of pressure on thermal expansion.Chemical boundaries are hard to detect by seismic techniques, but evidence favors one such boundary near 1000 km. Below this, the mantle is probably depleted in volatiles and the heat-producing elements, and represents the accreted material minus the buoyant and fusable compounds and the accompanying trace elements. Observations also favor a thick, chemically distinct layer at the base of the mantle that may extend, in places, more than 1000 km from the core-mantle boundary. This layer exhibits large-scale sluggish behavior as appropriate for high Prandtl number, low Rayleigh number convection. This kind of chemical and gravitational stratification resolves various geodynamic and geochemical paradoxes, and is more consistent with petrology and mineral physics than one- and two-layer models, and reversible stratification.

Recent studies implicate inflammation and complement mediated attack as early events in drusen biogenesis. The investigations described here sought to determine whether primary sites of complement activation could be identified within drusen substructure, and whether known inhibitors of the terminal pathway of complement are present in drusen and/or retinal pigmented epithelial (RPE) cells that lie in close proximity to drusen. Immunohistochemical examination shows two fluid phase regulators of the terminal pathway, vitronectin (Vn, S-protein) and clusterin (apolipoprotein J), to be present in drusen; Vn also accumulates in the cytoplasm of RPE cells that are closely associated with drusen. The membrane associated complement inhibitor, complement receptor 1, is also localized in drusen, but it is not detected in RPE cells immunohistochemically. In contrast, a second membrane associated complement inhibitor, membrane cofactor protein, is present in drusen associated RPE cells, as well as in small, spherical substructural elements within drusen. These previously unidentified elements also show strong immunoreactivity for proteolytic fragments of complement component C3 that are characteristically deposited at sites of complement activation. It is proposed that these structures represent residual debris from degenerating RPE cells that are the targets of complement attack. It is likely that RPE cell debris entrapped between the RPE monolayer and Bruch's membrane serves as a chronic inflammatory stimulus and a potential nucleation site for drusen formation. Thus, the process of drusen biogenesis may be envisaged as a secondary manifestation of primary RPE pathology that is exacerbated by consequences of local inflammatory processes.

Varying the concentration of infused acetic acid produced bladder irritation and dose dependent increases in external urethral sphincter electromyography activity in cats. We further characterized acetic acid induced external urethral sphincter electromyography activity in intact and acute spinal cord injured animals.

Age‐related macular degeneration (AMD), a blinding disorder that compromises central vision, is characterized by the accumulation of extracellular deposits, termed drusen, between the retinal pigmented epithelium and the choroid. Recent studies in this laboratory revealed that vitronectin is a major component of drusen. Because vitronectin is also a constituent of abnormal deposits associated with a variety of diseases, drusen from human donor eyes were examined for compositional similarities with other extracellular disease deposits. Thirty‐four antibodies to 29 different proteins or protein complexes were tested for immunoreactivity with hard and soft drusen phenotypes. These analyses provide a partial profile of the molecular composition of drusen. Serum amyloid P component, apolipoprotein E, immunoglobulin light chains, Factor X, and complement proteins (C5 and C5b‐9 complex) were identified in all drusen phenotypes. Transcripts encoding some of these molecules were also found to be synthesized by the retina, retinal pigmented epithelium, and/or choroid. The compositional similarity between drusen and other disease deposits may be significant in view of the recently established correlation between AMD and atherosclerosis. This study suggests that similar pathways may be involved in the etiologies of AMD and other age‐related diseases.—Mullins, R. F., Russell, S. R., Anderson, D. H., Hageman, G. S. Drusen associated with aging and age‐related macular degeneration contain proteins common to extracellular deposits associated with atherosclerosis, elastosis, amyloidosis, and dense deposit disease. FASEB J.14, 835–846 (2000)

Drusen are abnormal extracellular deposits that accumulate between the retinal pigmented epithelium and Bruch's membrane and are commonly associated with age-related macular degeneration. Our recent work has identified a number of plasma proteins as molecular components of drusen. Of interest is the fact that many of these drusen-associated molecules are acute phase reactant proteins and some have established roles in mediating immune responsiveness. As immune and inflammatory responses appear to play a role in the formation of other pathologic age-related deposits, we examined the distribution of immunoglobulin molecules and terminal complement complexes at sites of drusen deposition. Here, we report that concentrations of immunoglobulin G and terminal C5b-9 complement complexes are present in drusen. In addition, we observe that retinal pigmented epithelial cells overlying or directly adjacent to drusen, as well as some within apparently normal epithelia, exhibit cytoplasmic immunoreactivity for immunoglobulin and the C5 component of complement. Taken together, these results suggest that drusen biogenesis may be a byproduct of immune responsiveness, and they implicate immune complex-mediated pathogenesis involving retinal pigmented epithelial cells as an initiating event in drusen formation.

An unbiased estimate of the 3He/4He ratio (R) along the Earth's spreading ridge system is 9.14 ± 3.59 Ra (n = 503) where Ra is the atmospheric ratio (1.38 × 10∼6). By arbitrarily excluding all values with R > 11 Ra and from ocean depths less than 2500 meters, I obtain 7.91 ± 1.50 Ra (n = 212), which is close to previous “filtered” estimates based on the hypothesis that the excluded values have been influenced by plumes. These are biased estimates.Based on unbiased statistics, many of the socalled high-3He hotspot regions have isotopic ratios well within the MORB range, and all have absolute 3He concentrations much less than MORB. The high variance of some oceanic-island data compared to MORB reflects, in part, the difference between a small sample and a large sample, and magma-chamber processes.Values of 11 to 15 Ra are commonly attributed to deep mantle plumes and “indicative of lower mantle involvement,” but these values are within 2σ of the mean and are not exceptional. Much higher values combined with low absolute helium concentrations are commonly associated with the onset of rifting, or volcanism, and may reflect a shallow, or lithospheric, low-238U/3He (LONU) source. The temporal progression to average MORB-like values suggests that the bulk of the magmas at spreading ridges and large oceanic constructs comes from below the LONU level. The termination of spreading is associated with low ratios, 6 to 7 Ra, similar to values associated with the high-238U/204Pb (HIMU) mantle component and some oceanic islands.

Age‐related macular degeneration (AMD) leads to dysfunction and degeneration of retinal photoreceptor cells. This disease is characterized, in part, by the development of extracellular deposits called drusen. The presence of drusen is correlated with the development of AMD, although little is known about drusen composition or biogenesis. Drusen form within Bruch's membrane, a stratified extracellular matrix situated between the retinal pigmented epithelium and choriocapillaris. Because of this association, we sought to determine whether drusen contain known extracellular matrix constituents. Antibodies directed against a battery of extracellular matrix molecules were screened on drusen‐containing sections from human donor eyes, including donors with clinically documented AMD. Antibodies directed against vitronectin, a plasma protein and extracellular matrix component, exhibit intense and consistent reactivity with drusen; antibodies to the conformationally distinct, heparin binding form of human vitronectin are similarly immunoreactive. No differences in vitronectin immunoreactivity between hard and soft drusen, or between macular and extramacular regions, have been observed. RT‐PCR analyses revealed that vitronectin mRNA is expressed in the retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE)‐choroidal complex and cultured RPE cells. These data document that vitronectin is a major constituent of human ocular drusen and that vitronectin mRNA is synthesized locally. Based on these data, we propose that vitronectin may participate in the pathogenesis of AMD.—Hageman, G. S., Mullins, R. F., Russell, S. R., Johnson, L. V., Anderson, D. H. Vitronectin is a constituent of ocular drusen and the vitronectin gene is expressed in human retinal pigmented epithelial cells. FASEB J.13, 477–484 (1999)

Most of Earth's volcanism occurs at plate boundaries—mid-ocean ridges and island arcs. Most of the 3He and other noble gases also are expelled from the interior at these locations. A small amount, compared to the global budget, of magma (<10%) and 3He («1%) escapes at mid-plate volcanoes, the socalled “hotspots.” Locations of hotspots are controlled by stresses and cracks, not by deep, narrow mantle upwellings. Most, or all, of Earth's volatile inventory appears to have been brought in by a late veneer. The high 3He content and high He/Ne and He/Ar ratios of mid-ocean ridge basalts, plus the excess 129Xe and 136Xe, suggest that the ridge basalt reservoir is relatively undegassed and that there is no primordial undegassed reservoir. The two prevailing views of the origin of Earth are summarized in the context of this information.

The temperature and pressure derivatives of the elastic moduli Mof solids can be cast into the form of dimensionless logarithmic anharmonic {DLA} parameters, ∂ ln M/∂ In p= {M} at constant temperature, pressure, or entropy (T, P, S), where pis the density. These parameters show little variation from material to material and are expected to show little variation with temperature at high temperature. Most of the available derivative data for ionic solids has been renormalized and analyzed for dependency on ion type, crystal structure, and other parameters. The {DLA} parameters exhibit little variation and little correlation with crystal structure for most close‐packed halides and oxides. There are small systematic variations with ionic radius, Gruneisen's γ, and the bulk modulus‐rigidity ratio (K/G). Temperature and pressure derivatives are correlated because of the importance of the volume‐dependent, or extrinsic, terms. The intrinsic terms {K}vand {G}vare also highly correlated, even for open‐packed structures, where ∂ ln M/α∂T= {M}v. These correlations make it possible to estimate the derivatives of high‐pressure phases. The spinel forms of olivine are predicted to have “normal” derivatives, and therefore the magnitude of the modulus or velocity jump associated with the olivine‐spinel transition near 400 km should be similar to that measured in the laboratory. The actual size of the 400‐km discontinuity is much less, indicating the presence of substantial quantities of minerals other than olivine in the upper mantle or transition region. Recent calculations in apparent support of a homogeneous olivine‐rich (>60%) mantle are based on choices for the derivatives of β‐ and γ‐Mg2SiO4, which are unlike other ionic crystals. There is no evidence that these phases should be anomalous in their physical properties. The temperature and pressure derivatives of ionic crystals depend on the nature of the ions and their coordination.

This paper describes the career development to 1978 of four samples of people who entered Australian universities in 1965 or 1967. The study reported is based upon data obtained by means of a mail questionnaire survey from 1,490 respondents. The data were obtained from former students of engineering, law, medicine and teaching, and were analysed using standard techniques. Information is presented concerning the qualifications and professional status of the members of the four samples, their jobs and job changes, and influences on their job choices. The career progression of the four samples varied considerably. Significant numbers did not graduate in their chosen fields. However, the results suggest a great deal of occupational/professional stability founded upon original career plans.

Background:Drusen are extracellular deposits that accumulate between the basal lamina of the retinal pigment epithelium and the elastic lamina of Bruch membrane in aging human eyes. Although specific types of drusen are recognized as significant risk factors for the development of both the atrophic and exudative forms of age-related macular degeneration, few studies have focused on defining their molecular composition. As an initial step toward identifying the molecular composition of drusen, assessing the biochemical relation between hard and soft drusen, and identifying potential target molecules for detecting drusen clinically, the authors have analyzed their carbohydrate composition using lectin histochemistry.

Our experimental model of epiretinal membrane formation in the rabbit eye after lensectomy and vitrectomy provides a way of studying pharmacologic and surgical approaches to inhibiting epiretinal cellular proliferation and contraction in the eye that has undergone vitrectomy.

Exogenous basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) stimulates proliferation of non-neuronal retinal cells in vivo. To help understand how this proliferative effect is mediated, we followed the fate of biotinylated bFGF after injection into the vitreous of normal rabbit eyes. The retinal distributions, binding, and processing of biotinylated bFGF (bFGF-biotin) was examined from 2hr to 7 days after intravitreal injection using laser scanning confocal microscopy, electron microscopy and Western blot analysis. At 2hr, bFGF-biotin was detected throughout the extracellular space and on retinal basement membranes. At 6hr, discrete punctate material first appeared within the cytoplasm of Mu¨ller cells, astrocytes, endothelial cells, retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells, and ganglion cells. Labeling was also present in the invaginations of the photoreceptor synaptic terminals at this time. This general pattern persisted up to 4 days after injection but was greatly attenuated by post-injection day 7. Labeling in the inner retina decreased progressively over the seven days; whereas labeling in the outer retina, primarily within the RPE, increased at 4 days post-injection and then gradually decreased to nearly undetectable levels by 7 days. Western analysis of retinal protein homogenates following injection showed that an 18kDa component representing intact bFGF, can be identified up to 1 week following injection. This component, as well as a 15 and 9kDa biotinylated fragment, showed a progressive reduction during the one week post-injection period. Cross-linking experiments demonstrated that bFGF-biotin binds to three putative receptors with approximate molecular weights of 54, 62, and 110kDa. These data are consistent with binding of exogenous bFGF to: (a) low affinity bFGF receptors associated with retinal basement membranes; (b) invaginations at the base of photoreceptor synapses; and (c) putative high affinity bFGF receptors on the plasma membranes of glial cells, endothelial cells, RPE cells and ganglion cells. bFGF-biotin apparently binds to, and is then internalized by, the same non-neuronal cell types that are stimulated to proliferate following retinal injuries such as detachment.

The observed density of Venus is about 2% smaller than would be expected if Venus were a twin planet of the Earth, possessing an identical internal composition and structure. In principle, this could be explained by a process of physical segregation of metal particles from silicate particles in the solar nebula prior to accretion, so that Venus accreted from relatively metal-depleted material. However, this model encounters severe difficulties in explaining the nature of the physical segregation process and also the detailed chemical composition of the Earth's mantle. Two alternative hypotheses are examined, both of which attempt to explain the density difference in terms of chemicalfractionation processes. Both of these hypotheses assume that the relative abundances of the major elements Fe, Si, Mg, Al, and Ca are similar in both planets. According to the first hypothesis, a larger proportion of the total iron in Venus is present as iron oxide in the mantle, so that the core-to-mantle ratio is smaller than in the Earth. This model implies that Venus is more oxidized than the Earth, with its lower intrinsic density(i.e., corrected to equivalent pressures and temperatures) due to the larger amount of oxygen present. The difference between oxidation states is attributed to differing degrees of accretional heating arising from the relatively smaller mass of Venus. On the other hand, the second hypothesis maintains that Venus is more reduced than the Earth, with its mantle essentially devoid of oxidized iron. The difference intrinsic densities is attributed to the Earth accreting at a lower temperature than Venus as a result of the Earth's greater distance from the center of the nebula. As a result, large amounts of sulfur accreted on the Earth but not on Venus. The sulfur, which entered the core, is believed to have increased the mean density of the Earth because of its relatively high atomic weight. The hypothesis also implies that most of the Earth's potassium, because of its chalcophile properties, entered the core.

Long-period surface waves are used to map the lateral heterogeneity of the upper 100–600 km of the mantle. There is good correlation of velocity with surface tectonics and heat flow. Convergence regions are generally slow for Love waves and fast for Rayleigh waves. Back arc basins have slower than average shallow mantle. Some island arcs show evidence of fast material at greater depth. Deep-seated slow anomalies underlie the Red Sea–Afar region of north-east Africa, western North American–northern East Pacific Rise, Indian Ocean triple junction and the Tasman Sea–Campbell Plateau regions. The fastest regions are in the north central Australia–New Guinea and the South Atlantic.

All large continental igneous provinces and most high-temperature magmas (picrites, komatiites) are found on the margins of cratonic lithosphere. The standard plume model of flood basalt formation offers no explanation for this observation. We propose that thick lithosphere (usually Archean) adjacent to thinner lithosphere may control the locations of flood basalt provinces. The boundary between thick and thin lithosphere focuses both the strain in the lithosphere and the upwelling convection. In addition, the non-uniform boundary condition actually induces a small-scale form of convection that is not present in simple convection and plume models. Whereas plumes are a form of convective instability rising from the base of a convecting system heated from below, the form of convection we are discussing is triggered from above. Unlike other lithospheric mechanisms, the asymmetric lithosphere does not require convective thinning or heating of the plate in order to produce melting. This eliminates time delay between the arrival of the plume head and the onset of volcanism in the stretching model. We consider a series of calculations with a step-function change in thickness of the boundary layer and an externally imposed pull-apart. The flow in our models is shallow and sub-horizontal, and brings hot material from under the thicker (cratonic) boundary layer towards the pull-apart. A simple estimate of the amount of melt generated by this mechanism suggests that it is capable of producing a large igneous province, even for a dry mantle.

The balance of the public and private school sectors in Australia is unstable and, if present trends continue, the function of public schooling will become primarily that of a safety net for the residue of children not catered for by the private sector. The trends include a set of processes which are affecting the nature and quality of education in all schools. Under the different environments of public and private schools there are unequal exchanges across the public-private boundary—for example, of bright and motivated pupils and of influential and articulate parents. The process fuels its own momentum as remaining pupils and parents experience the problems caused by an unrepresentative clientele. The problems inherent in Australia's particular arrangement have been recognised in a number of official reports since the early 1970s. Proposals for reform have not yet gained support from private school interest groups and have therefore not been attractive to governments.

Recent studies indicate that bulk absorption is required somewhere in the Earth to explain the damping of the radial modes of free oscillation. This excess absorption, if attributed to bulk viscosity in the core, requires a value of ∼500 P. This is theoretically reasonable and may be due to structural or concentration fluctuations. The shear viscosity is at least several orders of magnitude smaller.

“Lithosphere” and “asthenosphere” are mechanical concepts; “depleted mantle” (DM), “enriched mantle” (EM), and “primitive mantle” (PM) are chemical concepts. Upper mantle, lower mantle, and D'' are seismological subdivisions. Geochemistry provides few constraints on the locations of mantle reservoirs, but it is generally assumed that the MORB reservoir (DM) lies immediately below the lithosphere, i.e., DM is the asthenosphere or in the asthenosphere. This leads to various paradoxes involving the temporal and spatial distributions of non-depleted basalts. To accommodate evidence for a widespread, shallow, enriched (relative to MORB) layer, it has been proposed that giant plume heads arise, as needed, from the core-mantle boundary, or that continental lithosphere delaminates and contaminates the shallow mantle. “Fossil plume heads” have been proposed to accommodate the need for long-lived, enriched, shallow mantle. Evidence is presented that a global, shallow, enriched layer is a permanent part of the upper mantle, and is absent or attenuated only when long-sustained spreading has replaced it by upwelling depleted mantle. It is the absence of EM, rather than its presence, that needs to be explained. I call this shallow, enriched (or metasomatized) region the “perisphere” (for “all around”). It is constantly refreshed by fluids from subducting slabs and by residual melts trapped beneath the lithosphere. There is no one-to-one correspondence of the perisphere with the lithosphere or asthenosphere, since it can be either hot or cold, weak or strong, fertile or infertile. The perisphere protects the underlying depleted mantle from recycling and contamination. Recognition that noble gases and high 3He/4 He material collect in pelagic sediments increases the power of the recycling hypothesis. The shallow mantle is the likely sink for recycled sediments and slab-derived fluids, and the likely source of the enriched components of island-arc, ocean-island, and continental flood basalts.I argue that enriched magmas are caused neither by melting of continental lithosphere in continental domains nor by channeling in narrow hoses from point-source hotspots in the oceanic domain. Large-scale enriched domains exist in the shallow mantle. Narrow point-like or line-like eruptive centers are the result of lithospheric control, and are not the dimensions of active plume-like upwellings. I attribute the homogeneity of the MORB source to isolation from the effects of recycling rather than to efficient stirring. The best candidates for hot plume material are high-temperature magmas, picrites, and komatiites. Geochemically these are more similar to MORB than to enriched magmas thought to be plume derived. The tectonic context of many socalled hotspot magmas implies that it is the lithospheric dynamics of the upper Earth that control eruption, not the fluid dynamics of the deep Earth or lower mantle.

Several techniques were utilized to assess the levels, disposition and cellular sources of isoforms 1 and 2 of transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) in the posterior pole of the monkey eye. Freshly dissected tissues, as well as the saline vehicles in which dissections were performed, were analysed by sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. In all tissues TGF-β2 was the predominant isoform, with β2:β1 ratios of 6:1 for neural retina (as ng g^-1) and 425:1 for vitreous (as pmol l^-1). Retinal pigment epithelium (RPE)-Bruch's membrane-choroid complex contained approximately 10 times the amount of both TGF-β isoforms as neural retina. For first passage cultures of monkey RPE, TGF-β2, but not TGF-β1, accumulated over time in conditioned media samples. Immunoreactivity for TGF-β2 was detected both in tissue sections of posterior pole, specifically in rod outer segments and RPE, and also in the first passage cultures of RPE. Antibodies to specific peptide sequences of both isoforms localized TGF-β to the outer segments of rod photoreceptors. The apparent sequestration of TGF-β2 in photoreceptor outer segments, as well as the in vitro evidence for possible synthesis and release by RPE, suggest that TGF-β2 is an important modulator of visual function acting at the retina-RPE interface. Copyright 1994, 1999 Academic Press

The retinal and corneal toxicity of fluorouracil in the rabbit eye after lensectomy and vitrectomy depended on both the dosage and the frequency of intraocular injection and was reversible at certain dosages. All eyes in Group I (1.25 mg of fluorouracil every 12 hours for four days and then every 24 hours for three days) had opaque corneas by three days; these did not clear for four weeks. Histologic studies showed loss of photoreceptor outer segments and loss of ribosomes in all the retinal cells examined. The electroretinographic b-wave decreased to 0% of the baseline value (no b-wave), and did not recover after three weeks. In Group 2 eyes (1.25 mg of fluorouracil every 24 hours for seven days), corneal opacification increased to a maximum after two weeks and gradually decreased by four weeks. The electroretinographic b-wave diminished to 9.6% of the baseline value at two weeks but later recovered to 62.5% of the baseline value at three weeks. Histologic studies showed loss of photoreceptor outer segments and ribosomes at nine days; both returned to near normal after five weeks. Clinical, electrophysiologic, and histologic studies showed no toxicity in Group 3 eyes (0.5 mg of fluorouracil every 24 hours for seven days). This dosage of fluorouracil exerts a significant antiproliferative effect on injected retinal pigment epithelial cells and is well tolerated by the rabbit eye.

Fluorouracil effectively inhibits epiretinal membrane formation and traction retinal detachment after vitrectomy surgery. When 0.5 mg of fluorouracil was administered intraocularly every 24 hours for seven days, traction retinal detachment two weeks after the intraocular injection of 200,000 cultured retinal pigment epithelial cells occurred in 12 of 12 control eyes but in only six of 14 eyes treated with fluorouracil (P<.001). Four weeks after cell injection, eight of 12 eyes treated with fluorouracil had traction retinal detachments whereas 12 of 12 control eyes did (P<.001). The height of the traction retinal detachment four weeks after intraocular injection of 200,000 cultured retinal pigment epithelial cells was reduced 50% in eyes treated with 0.5 mg of fluorouracil every 24 hours for seven days compared to control eyes (P<.001).

The mantle plume model has been used to explain a variety of geological and geodynamic events. For instance, a large plume, or ‘superplume’, under the Pacific basin has been proposed to account for a number of Cretaceous events, such as a global sealevel rise, an increase in global average temperature, and a pause in the reversals of the Earth's magnetic field [1,2]. The primary evidence for this hypothesis is a model for the rate of production of ocean ridge material and ocean plateaus, with a high from about 120-80 Ma, mostly due to activity in the Pacific basin, which is claimed to have been driven by the upwelling of a large plume from the core-mantle boundary. The hypothesis requires that a large part of the primary evidence for this high productivity has disappeared by subduction. Here, we test this hypothesis by comparing the Cretaceous eustatic sealevel highstand which would result from the superplume model with generally accepted values. Our model includes estimates of eustatic sealevel change resulting from phenomena explicitly specified for the proposed plume, such as the volume of ocean crust produced and the extent of lithospheric swelling associated with the plume head, as well as other events known to affect eustatic sealevel, such as glaciation and continental collision. The estimated Cretaceous highstand resulting from all the modeled effects is 220–470 m, compared to the observed value of 120–200 m. This discrepancy indicates a probable overestimate of the rate of seafloor and plateau creation and of the size of plume that could have existed. The breakup of the Pangean supercontinent is a more viable explanation of the Cretaceous sealevel rise.

The long-wavelength geoid and topography are dynamic effects of a convecting mantle. The long-wavelength geoid of the Earth is controlled by density variations in the mantle and has been explained by circulation models involving whole mantle flow. However, the relationship of long-wavelength topography to mantle circulation has been a puzzling problem in geodynamics. We show that the dynamic topography is mainly due to density variations in the upper mantle, even after the effects of lithospheric cooling and crustal thickness variation are taken into account. Layered mantle convection, with a shallow origin for surface dynamic topography, is consistent with the spectrum, small amplitude and pattern of the topography. Layered mantle convection, with a barrier about 250 km deeper than the 670 km phase boundary, provides a self-consistent geodynamic model for the amplitude and pattern of both the long-wavelength geoid and surface topography.

We examined the expression of several proteins normally present in Müller's glia after the production of experimental retinal detachment in adult cats. Retinas were detached for one-half to seven days, after which the tissue was processed for correlative immunocytochemistry and biochemistry. Previous studies demonstrated that the intermediate filament proteins glial fibrillary acidic protein and vimentin, increase after long-term retinal detachment (30 to 60 days), whereas glutamine synthetase, carbonic anhydrase C, and cellular retinaldehyde-binding protein all decrease to barely detectable levels. Alterations in Müller cell protein expression are rapid and specific events that can be detected as early as two days after retinal detachment. By seven days, levels of protein expression are similar to those in the long-term retinal detachments. Within the first week after injury the Müller cell processes hypertrophy and begin forming glial scars, which indicates that early intervention may be required to halt or reverse the effects of detachment.

The transition region of the Earth's upper mantle, 400–650 km deep, appears to be mineralogically and chemically distinct from both the shallow mantle and lower mantle. It contains most of the basalt fraction of the Earth's mantle.

The volume and location of subducted plate, since 130 Ma, are reconstructed from magnetic anomalies and updated finite rotation parameters describing relative motions in the ocean basins and between plates and hotspots. The area of subducted plate is calculated from the relative motions between overriding and overridden plates along the length of convergence in the hotspot reference frame in 5 Ma intervals. Ridge locations are reconstructed by rotating magnetic anomalies from their present to their former positions. The distances between trenches and ridges, at a certain point of time, in the spreading direction are thus estimated and are used to determine the ages of trenches, according to the spreading history recorded in present-day oceans. The thickness of the oceanic plate is obtained from the age based on the half-space cooling model. About 3.45 × 1010 km3 of oceanic plate has been subducted during the past 130 Ma, with maximum accumulation beneath Southeast Eurasia. At spherical harmonic degree l = 2, where subduction flux peaks, excellent correlation is found between four seismic tomographic models at the top of the lower mantle (about 800–1100 km deep) and predicted slab locations. For some seismic models excellent correlation is also found at other degrees in that depth range. Some models also have good correlations with predicted slab locations in the deep mantle at l = 2. Direct comparison between subduction and seismic tomographic patterns at 800–1100 km shows that subduction history correlates with tomography very well in terms of location and amplitude of anomalies. Cold downwellings, which may be related to slabs, appear to be trapped in the mesosphere, or middle mantle. Correlations between seismic tomography and subduction over different time periods support this conclusion. There are also some correlations in the upper mantle and in the deep lower mantle, although they are generally not as significant as those in the 800–1100 km depth range. There may be a significant boundary in the mantle near the 800–1100 km depth. From a geodynamic and chemical point of view, the lower mantle may start at a depth closer to 1000 km than to 670 km.

A residual sphere is formed by projecting seismic ray travel-time anomalies, relative to a reference Earth model, onto an imaginary sphere around an earthquake. Any dominant slab-like fast band can be determined with spherical harmonic expansion. The technique is useful in detecting trends associated with high-velocity slabs beneath deep earthquakes after deep-mantle and near-receiver effects are removed. Two types of corrections are used. The first uses a tomographic global mantle model; the second uses teleseismic station averages of residuals from many events over a large area centered on the events of interest. Under the Mariana, Izu-Bonin, and Japan trenches, the dominant fast bands are generally consistent with seismicity trends. The results are unstable and differ from the seismicity trend for Kurile events. The predominant fast band for most deep earthquakes under Japan is subhorizontal rather than near vertical. We find little support for the deep slab penetration hypothesis.

Examines the importance of academic freedom in universities. Reference to some of the values which should be instilled in university students; Importance of finance in universities; Reasons for the need of academic freedom; Interpretation of academic freedom; Way in which students view university life.

Examines the state of Australian poetry as February 1997. Themes of Australian poetry; Publishing houses supporting poetry; Government support for poetry.