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Based on the successful application of the adaptive meshless local maximum-entropy finite element method to solve the convection-diffusion equation, this study extends the same principle to study the 2-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations. Through extensive case studies, this work demonstrates that the present approach is a viable alternative to resolve the high Reynolds number Navier-Stokes equations. The simulation results indicate that by incorporating additional points into the elements without increasing the bandwidth or refinement via the local maximum-entropy procedure, it will enhance the accuracy and efficiency of numerical simulations. A 2-dimensional square lid-driven cavity with various Reynolds numbers will serve as the first example. In the second example, we address a more complex geometry by solving the cavity with a hole inside the cavity center. The numerical results of the model compare favorably with other numerical solutions, including the finite difference method and the finite element method. This paper provides a very powerful tool to study the boundary layer theory with irregular geometry of the Navier-Stokes equations.

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2005.11.002 Byline: Tor Korneliussen (a), PA[yen]l A. Pedersen (b), Kjell GrA[cedilla]nhaug (c) Keywords: Quality; Quality rating; Environmental uncertainty; Institution Abstract: Quality assessment is frequently applied in business-to-business marketing. It is usually assumed that quality assessment builds on the use of 'objective' rules and criteria, but this is not always true. In a longitudinal study it was found that an institutionalized practice of quality assessment was based on both 'objective' product characteristics, as well as more subjective supply/demand considerations, making quality assessment much more complex than usually assumed. Theoretical and managerial implications are highlighted. Author Affiliation: (a) BodA[cedilla] Graduate School of Business, Department of Marketing, 8049 BodA[cedilla], Norway (b) BodA[cedilla] Graduate School of Business, Department of Economics, 8049 BodA[cedilla], Norway (c) The Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration, Department of Strategy and Management, 5045 Bergen, Norway Article History: Received 4 January 2005; Revised 26 September 2005; Accepted 11 November 2005

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ajog.2006.05.005 Byline: Toril KolA[yen]s (a), Ola D. Saugstad (b), Anne K. Daltveit (c)(d), Stein T. Nilsen (e), PA[yen]l Aian (f) Abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine neonatal outcomes among women with a planned cesarean and a planned vaginal delivery at term. Author Affiliation: (a) Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Innlandet Hospital Trust, Lillehammer, Norway (b) Department of Pediatric Research, Rikshospitalet University Hospital, Oslo, Norway (c) Department of Public Health and Primary Health Care, Section for Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, University of Bergen (d) The Medical Birth Registry of Norway, Bergen, Norway (e) Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Stavanger University Hospital, Stavanger, Norway (f) Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Hospital of North Norway, TromsA[cedilla], Norway Article History: Received 8 September 2005; Revised 16 April 2006; Accepted 4 May 2006 Article Note: (footnote) Supported by the Norwegian Medical Association.

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ajog.2004.12.016 Byline: Katherine T. Chen (a)(b), Anne Eskild (c), Michaeline Bresnahan (b), Babill Stray-Pedersen (d), Arnold Sher (b), PA[yen]l A. Jenum (e) Abstract: The purpose of this study was to assess the association between previous maternal Toxoplasma gondii (T gondii) infection and risk of fetal death. Author Affiliation: (a) Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University (b) Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health of Columbia University, New York, NY (c) Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ulleval University Hospital, Department of Epidemiology, Norwegian Institute of Public Health (d) Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, National Hospital, Oslo, Norway (e) Department of Microbiology, Laboratory Services, Asker and BA[bar]rum Hospital, Rud, Norway; Department of Microbiology, National Hospital, Oslo, Norway Article History: Received 25 October 2004; Revised 25 October 2004; Accepted 7 December 2004 Article Note: (footnote) Supported in part by a Women's Reproductive Health Research Career Development Center grant from the National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development (to Dr Chen).

Stocks in the toiletries/cosmetics industry outperformed other industries in 1996, and are also expected to do well in 1997. The European and US markets for these products are well established and are in line with demographics in spite of retail shelf constraints, the proliferation of new products, and irregular order patterns. However, profit increases in 1997 are expected to be good. Investors must focus on solid stocks in this timely industry.

Byline: Terese FolgerA[cedilla], Norunn Storbakk, Torberg Torbergsen, PA[yen]l Aian Keywords: Preeclampsia; genetics; mitochondrial dysfunction; mitochondrial transfer ribonucleic acid mutations Abstract: OBJECTIVE: We investigated whether maternally inherited mitochondrial deoxyribonucleic acid mutations could be associated with preeclampsia because mendelian models fail to explain all the aspects of inheritance in preeclampsia. STUDY DESIGN: In two families with a high occurrence of preeclampsia and eclampsia the 22 mitochondrial transfer ribonucleic acid genes were sequenced in eight and three women, respectively. RESULTS: An A-to-G mutation in transfer ribonucleic acid.sup.leu[UUR] at nucleotide 3243 was found in one family, and in the other there was an A-to-G mutation at nucleotide 12308 in transfer ribonucleic acid.sup.leu[CUN]. Mutations of mitochondrial transfer ribonucleic acid genes are generally considered to have systemic consequences, which might explain the multiorgan involvement seen in preeclampsia. CONCLUSION: We report for the first time mutations in mitochondrial transfer ribonucleic acid genes in two families with a high occurrence of preeclampsia and eclampsia. Mitochondrial dysfunction caused by point mutations of mitochondrial deoxyribonucleic acid is maternally inherited, but in the case of mutations of nuclear genes mitochondrial dysfunction can be inherited as an autosomal recessive or dominant trait. (AM J OBSTET GYNECOL 1996;174:1626-30.) Author Affiliation: TromsA[cedilla], Norway Article History: Received 25 May 1995; Revised 18 September 1995; Accepted 28 September 1995 Article Note: (footnote) [star] From the Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecologya and Neurology, b University of TromsA[cedilla]. , [star][star] Reprint requests: Terese FolgerA[cedilla], MD, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of TromsA[cedilla], N-9038 TromsA[cedilla], Norway., a 0002-9378/96 $5.00 + 0 6/1/69617

We discuss an extragradient projection method for dealing with equilibrium problems involving bifunctions which are strongly quasiconvex on its second argument. The algorithm combines a proximal step with a subgradient projection step using a generalized subdifferential, which is especially useful for dealing with this class of generalized convex functions, and with a line search. As a consequence, the usual assumption regarding the relationship between the Lipschitz-type parameter and the modulus of strong quasiconvexity is no longer needed for ensuring the convergence of the generated sequence to the solution of the problem. Furthermore, numerical experiments for classes of nonconvex mixed variational inequalities based on fractional programming problems are given in order to show the performance of our proposed method.

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ajog.2009.06.003 Byline: Anne Eskild (a)(b), PA[yen]l R. Romundstad (c), Lars J. Vatten (c) Keywords: birthweight; large for gestational age; placental weight; preeclampsia; small for gestational age Abstract: Placental weight and infant birthweight may be markers of different types of preeclampsia. We studied birthweight within placental weight percentiles in pregnancies with and without preeclampsia. Author Affiliation: (a) Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Medical Faculty Division, University of Oslo, and Akershus University Hospital, LA[cedilla]renskog, Oslo, Norway (b) Division of Mental Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway (c) Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway Article History: Received 10 March 2009; Revised 14 April 2009; Accepted 1 June 2009 Article Note: (footnote) This study was supported by the University of Oslo and by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology., Cite this article as: Eskild A, Romundstad PR, Vatten LJ. Placental weight and birthweight: does the association differ between pregnancies with and without preeclampsia? Am J Obstet Gynecol 2009;201:595.e1-5.

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ajog.2008.07.021 Byline: Dorthe Fuglenes (a), PA[yen]l Aian (b), Ivar SA[cedilla]nbA[cedilla] Kristiansen (a)(c) Keywords: cesarean section; fear of litigation; maternal request; risk attitude Abstract: The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that obstetricians' choice of delivery method is influenced by their risk attitude and perceived risk of complaints and malpractice litigation. Author Affiliation: (a) Institute of Health Management and Health Economics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway (b) Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Hospital of North Norway and the Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of TromsA[cedilla], TromsA[cedilla], Norway (c) Institute of Public Health, Research Unit of General Practice, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark Article History: Received 5 February 2008; Revised 23 April 2008; Accepted 8 July 2008 Article Note: (footnote) Cite this article as: Fuglenes D, Aian P, Kristiansen IS. Obstetricians' choice of cesarean delivery in ambiguous cases: is it influenced by risk attitude or fear of complaints and litigation? Am J Obstet Gynecol 2009;200:48.e1-48.e8. , This study was financed by the University of Oslo.

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ajog.2006.10.909 Byline: Lars J. Vatten (1), Anne Eskild (3), Tom I.L. Nilsen (1), Stig Jeansson (4), PA[yen]l A. Jenum (5), Anne Cathrine Staff (2) Keywords: length of pregnancy; placenta growth factor; population study; preeclampsia; soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase 1 Abstract: This study was undertaken to assess changes in placenta growth factor and soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 as predictors of preeclampsia. Author Affiliation: (1) Department of Public Health, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim (2) Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, UllevA[yen]l University Hospital, Oslo, Norway (3) Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Akershus University Hospital, University of Oslo, and the Division of Mental Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway (4) Department of Microbiology, UllevA[yen]l University Hospital, Oslo, Norway (5) Department of Microbiology, Asker and BA[bar]rum Hospital, BA[bar]rum, Norway. Article History: Received 7 August 2006; Revised 7 September 2006; Accepted 27 October 2006 Article Note: (footnote) This study was supported by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, the Norwegian Research Council, and the Norwegian Ministry of Health Care. Cite this article as: Vatten LJ, Eskild A, Nilsen TIL, Jeansson S, Jenum PA, Staff AC. Changes in circulating level of angiogenic factors from the first to second trimester as predictors of preeclampsia. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2007;196:239.e1-239.e6. Reprints not available from the authors.

Background:Despite recognition of the link between body mass index (BMI) and depression in adolescence, the underlying mechanisms behind this association remain understudied. This study aims to examine three mediational pathways from BMI to depressive symptoms through peer victimization and sleep problems. Sex differences in the mediating effects were also explored.Methods:Data came from 1893 adolescents participating in a multi-wave longitudinal study from grade 9 to 12 in northern Taiwan were analyzed. Measures included BMI in 2009, peer victimization in 2010, sleep problems in 2011, depressive symptoms in 2012 and other covariates (sex, age, parental education, family structure, family economic stress, stressful life events, pubertal development and previous scores of focal study variables). A series of multiple regression models were conducted to test mediation hypotheses. A bootstrapping approach was applied to obtain confidence intervals for determining the significance of indirect effects.Results:The association between BMI and depressive symptoms was significantly mediated by peer victimization and sleep problems. Higher BMI predicted more peer victimization and sleep problems, each of which led to higher levels of depressive symptoms. Our results further showed that higher BMI was associated with more peer victimization, which led to greater sleep problems and in turn resulted in increased depressive symptoms. No sex differences was found for the indirect effects of BMI on depressive symptoms through either peer victimization or sleep problems.Conclusions:Peer victimization and sleep problems partly explain the link between BMI and depressive symptoms. Interventions to prevent or manage depressive symptoms may yield better results if they consider the effects of these two psychosocial factors rather than targeting BMI alone.

Introduction:Na, K-ATPase (NKA), regulated by phosphoprotein phospholemman (PLM), contributes to excitation-contraction via the Na,Ca-exchanger at cardiac T-tubules (TTs). It is known that the intercalated discs (IDs) contain concentrated specific Na channels and K channels, that rely on ion gradients set by NKA. Yet, the coordinated trafficking and localization of NKA and PLM in cardiomyocytes (CMs) remains incompletely understood, Hypothesis:NKA and PLM are concentrated in the ID and essential for cardiac conduction.Methods:We have made five antibodies (Abs) that specifically identify PLM (B8, PLM-N-term, and PLM-C-term) or NKA (NKA-α1 and Pan-α, recognizing both α1 and α2 subunits of NKA). Confocal immunofluorescence assays were used to determine the intracellular distribution of PLM and NKA. Optical mapping studies were performed in rabbit hearts.Results:These five Abs all displayed specific fluorescence signals in dog CMs that were more intense at the IDs than TTs. These signals were eliminated by competing peptides. B8 and NKA-α1 signals highly overlapped, with similar intensity ratios between ID and TT at ~3. Immunostaining of connexin 43, γ-catenin, or N-cadherin confirmed the co-localization of NKA and PLM to the ID. PLM and NKA co-enriched with ID protein markers in sarcolemma/ID membrane preparations. To corroborate the localization of PLM at the ID, we expressed dog PLM in rat CMs. By 30h post-infection, B8 detected newly synthesized dog PLM that paralleled the pattern of its steady-state distribution in tissue, with concentrated protein apparent at IDs (B8 fluorescence intensity ratio of ID/TT = 2.6 ± 0.5, 50CMs). Nocodazole prevented newly-made dog PLM trafficking to ID. Finally, optical mapping studies showed that the NKA inhibitor ouabain and digoxin significantly increased activation times in a dose-dependent manner (n=5 and 4 rabbits, respectively).Conclusions:The α1 subunit of NKA and PLM are each expressed at a ~3X higher concentration in ID compared to TT in CMs, contributing to cardiac conduction. Mechanisms of PLM and NKA protein trafficking to the two disparate subcellular sites, and associated effects of PLM regulation by adrenergic signaling, provide important new insights into the physiology of cardiac conduction.

Background: The most common cause of death in individuals with severe tetanus in the absence of mechanical ventilation is spasm-related respiratory failure, whereas in ventilated patients it is tetanus-associated autonomic dysfunction. Our aim was to determine whether continuous magnesium sulphate infusion reduces the need for mechanical ventilation and improves control of muscle spasms and autonomic instability. Methods: We did a randomised, double blind, placebo controlled trial in 256 Vietnamese patients over age 15 years with severe tetanus admitted to the Hospital for Tropical Medicine, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Participants were randomly assigned magnesium sulphate (n=97) or placebo solution (n=98) intravenously for 7 days. The primary outcomes were requirement of assisted ventilation and of drugs to control muscle spasms and cardiovascular instability within the 7-day study period. Analyses were done by intention to treat. This trial is registered as an International Standard Randomised Clinical Trial, number ISRCTN74651862. Findings: No patients were lost to follow-up. There was no difference in requirement for mechanical ventilation between individuals treated with magnesium and those receiving placebo (odds ratio 0.71, 95% CI 0.36-1.40; p=0.324); survival was also much the same in the two groups. However, compared with the placebo group, patients receiving magnesium required significantly less midazolam (7.1 mg/kg per day [0.1-47.9] vs 1.4 mg/kg per day [0.0-17.3]; p=0.026) and pipecuronium (2.3 mg/kg per day [0.0-33.0] vs 0.0 mg/kg per day [0.0-14.8]; p=0.005) to control muscle spasms and associated tachycardia. Individuals receiving magnesium were 4.7 (1.4-15.9) times less likely to require verapamil to treat cardiovascular instability than those in the placebo group. The incidence of adverse events was not different between the groups. Interpretation: Magnesium infusion does not reduce the need for mechanical ventilation in adults with severe tetanus but does reduce the requirement for other drugs to control muscle spasms and cardiovascular instability.

Crossbred (Chester White × Landrace × Large White × Yorkshire) primiparous gilts were fed a standard gestation diet at 6,000 or 2,000 kcal calculated digestible energy (DE; 1.8 or .6 kg feed) daily for 84 or 108 (106 to 112) d after mating. Nonpregnant littermates were matched by body weight and assigned to the same diet treatments. Body weight and ultrasonic backfat measurements were made at 3-wk intervals. At 77 and 100 d, eight pregnant gilts (four control and four restricted) were fitted with indwelling jugular cannulas for frequent blood sampling (33 times over an 8-h period) to determine plasma glucose and growth hormone concentrations. At 84 and 108 d all gilts (eight pregnant and eight nonpregnant at d 84 and nine pregnant and nine nonpregnant at d 108 for each diet) were slaughtered and internal organs and reproductive tracts were removed and weighed. Fetal body and organ weights were recorded and an umbilical artery blood sample was removed from fetuses for plasma glucose, growth hormone, total protein and albumin measurements. The results demonstrated the ability of the primiparous gilt to maintain pregnancy through 106 to 112 d of gestation while consuming one-third (2,000 kcal DE daily) of recommended daily feed. Fetal weight at 84 and 108 d was reduced by about 13% without affecting litter size in gilts fed severely restricted intakes. Absolute and relative weights of maternal organs were affected by severe feed restriction, and backfat was reduced but there was no evidence of “pregnancy anabolism” in either adequately fed or restricted gilts. Fetal liver, kidney and gastrointestinal tract weights were reduced by maternal feed restriction; relative kidney weights were reduced while relative brain cortex weight was increased by maternal restriction. Maternal plasma glucose was unchanged by pregnancy or feed intake while plasma growth hormone peak amplitude, but not mean concentration or number of peaks, was increased by feed restriction. Fetal plasma glucose increased with time and in response to severe maternal feed restriction while plasma total protein and albumin decreased. Plasma growth hormone declined with time and was negatively correlated with fetal body weight.

Abstract:  Tubulin was purified by a combination of acetone powder preparation, DEAE Sephadex A-50 chromatography, Sephacryl S-300 gel filtration, and Mono Q anion exchange chromatography from the pollen of ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba L.), a typical gymnosperm. The average yield of tubulin is 2 mg per 100 g of pollen grain. The purified tubulin is electrophoretically homogeneous. It seems to be composed of two subunits on SDS-PAGE and is resolved as two major spots on two-dimensional electrophoresis, preliminarily indicating that there are no obvious tubulin isotypes in ginkgo pollen. The apparent molecular weights of the two subunits are about 54 kDa and 52 kDa respectively, estimated from the SDS-PAGE. It was also demonstrated that tubulin from ginkgo pollen is immunochemically related to animal brain tubulin, and the purified tubulin was polymerized to microtubular aggregates in the presence of taxol and GTP in vitro.

Performance of three-dot bisection was determined as a function of orientation for a variety of feature separations and field meridians at eccentricities of 0–10 deg for two observers. The dot stimuli and separations were scaled in size to compensate for eccentricity. The precision of three-dot bisection was found to depend on the direction of test-feature offset. In the fovea, horizontal and vertical bisections were better than oblique bisections, while at eccentricities of 5–20 deg, isoeccentric (on a tangent to a circle of a given eccentricity) bisection was better than radial bisection. The direction of offset was more important than the orientation of the stimulus. Large separations showed a stronger effect than small separations. The anisotropy of bisection appears different from the meridional effect for resolution and is unlikely to be simply related to a local anisotropy of the cortical magnification factor.

Performance of three-dot bisection was determined as a function of the feature separation at eccentricities of 0–10 deg along the inferior vertical field meridian by using dot stimuli scaled in size to compensate for eccentricity. For these briefly flashed dot stimuli, the entire function of three-dot bisection acuity against dot separation worsens away from the fovea with a single scaling factor that is compatible with the change of the cortical magnification factor in area V1. When the presentation duration of the stimulus was lengthened from 150 msec to 1 sec, the improvement was much greater in the fovea than at 10-deg eccentricity for closely separated stimuli. We attribute this difference to a luminance cue (detection of a brightness change) that is present for a long stimulus duration at small separations in the fovea, but not in the periphery.

Summary Actin purified from maize pollen grains can be polymerized into F-actin which increased the ATPase activities of proteolytic fragments (HMM, S1) of rabbit muscle myosin. The values of Kapp is 232 µM for HMM and 290 µM for S1, which are six- and seven-fold higher than those of rabbit muscle F-actin under the same conditions. Pollen actin and rabbit muscle myosin form hybrid actomyosin showing increase in viscosity and turbidity of solution. Viscosity and turbidity of the actomyosin dropped and then increased again with addition of ATP. Polymerized pollen actin can be decorated in vitro with both rabbit muscle HMM and S1 to form an arrowhead-shaped structure like that observed in living plant cells. The results show that pollen actin is similar to muscle actin at a qualitative level. But there are differences between them at a quantitative level.

In early postnatal life the acquisition of mature morphological and molecular features of motor neurons is influenced by synaptic activity within the spinal cord. Glutamatergic synaptic neurotransmission is believed to play a central role in this process. We hypothesize that the repertoire of glutamate receptors expressed by neurons in the young spinal cord differ from those expressed in adults and such receptors support activity-dependent developmental plasticity. To explore this idea, we used in situ hybridization histochemistry to determine the distribution, temporal expression, and potential subunit composition of α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptors in the developing rat spinal cord and compared these findings with those in adult rats.

Degenerative joint disease is a manifestation of aging, the result of the wear and tear of living on articular structures. Pathologically, there is a change in the articular cartilage leading to fibrillation of the cartilage followed by eburnation of bone and overproduction of bone exostoses. When the damaged joint is in an abnormal position, acute symptoms may result from acute or sustained trauma following normal structural stress and strain, and during the acute phase an inflammation of the synovia is usually seen. In all instances, there is a certain element of overproduction of connective tissue manifested by granulation tissue in the form of pannus. Since we have felt that hyperadrenalism induced by corticotropin (ACTH) or cortisone may interfere with inflammatory reactions in the connective tissue and delay the turnover of granulations,1 it was decided to evaluate the effect of cortisone on degenerative joint disease. Many forms of this disease

IDIOPATHIC ascites is not an uncommon complication of long-term intermittent hemodialysis,1 but ascites secondary to renal fluid transudation is extremely unusual. We report a case of massive ascites that appears to be secondary to transudation from a cadaveric renal graft.Report of a CaseA 46-year-old woman who had been treated by hemodialysis since 1968 for chronic renal failure secondary to glomerulonephritis received a cadaveric renal transplant in her right iliac fossa on Dec 16, 1971. She was then observed as an outpatient and admitted to the hospital for open reduction and internal fixation of an intratrochanteric fracture of the right hip in June 1972 and for the treatment of a urinary tract infection in July 1974.On Aug 6, 1974, the patient was readmitted to the hospital complaining of a painless, diffuse abdominal swelling and a 3.6-kg (8-1b) weight gain over the past seven to ten days. Her