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Sufficiently nonlinear classical fields admit modes called kinks, whose number is strictly conserved in virtue of boundary conditions and continuity of the field as a function of space and time. In a quantum theory of such fields, with canonical commutation (not anticommutation) relations, kinks and their conservation still persist, and even if the intrinsic angular momentum is an integer, a rotating kink can have half‐odd angular momentum, if double‐valued state functionals are admitted. We formulate a natural concept of exchange appropriate for kinks. The principal result is that for fields with integer‐valued intrinsic angular momentum, the observed relation between spin and (exchange) statistics follows from continuity alone, parastatistics being excluded. It is likely that in the theories with even (odd) exchange statistics, suitable creation operators will commute (anticommute). We show that, while the rotational spectrum of a kink will in general possess both integer and half‐odd spin states, in fields with integer‐valued intrinsic angular momentum only one of these two possibilities will ever be observed for each kind of kink, and that there is a nonzero ``particle number'' (strictly conserved, additive, scalar quantum number) attached to half‐odd‐spin kinks of each kind. It then follows that a boson and a fermion kink will always differ in at least one particle number, as well as in spin, and that, in particular, every fermion kink will have some nonzero particle number. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that the spinor fields usually employed to describe half‐odd‐spin quanta are not fundamental, but are useful ``point‐limit'' approximations to operators creating or annihilating excitations in a nonlinear field of particular kinds of kinks in particular internal states.

While a magnetically confined plasma cannot have a Maxwellian velocity distribution at each point, it is shown that a high beta Maxwellian plasma containing no magnetic fields can exist when separated by a non-Maxwellian boundary layer from the region of no plasma and homogeneous confining magnetic field. (auth)

It is known that the entire geometry of many relativistic space-times can be summed up in two concepts, a space-time measure $\ensuremath{\mu}$ and a space-time causal or chronological order relation $C$, defining a causal measure space. On grounds of finiteness, unity, and symmetry, we argue that macroscopic space-time may be the classical-geometrical limit of a causal quantum space. A tentative conceptual framework is provided. Mathematical individuals that naturally form causal spaces are symbol sets or words, taken in the order of their generation. The natural extension of this purely logical concept to quantum symbols is formulated. The problem is posed of giving finite quantum rules for the generation of quantum symbol sets such that the order of generation becomes, in the classical limit, the causal order of space-time---as it were, to break the space-time code. The causal quantum spaces of three simple codes are generated for comparison with reality. The singulary code (repetitions of one digit) gives a linearly ordered external world of one time dimension and a circular internal space. The binary code gives the future null cone of special relativity and a circular internal space. The causal quantum space of word pairs in the binary code gives the solid light cone $tg{({x}^{2}+{y}^{2}+{z}^{2})}^{\frac{1}{2}}$ of special relativity and an internal space $U(2,C)$ suitable for the description of charge and isospin. In the classical limit, there is full translational and proper Lorentz invariance except at the boundary of the light cone, where the classical-geometrical limit fails. Plausible consequences of this model for cosmology and elementary particles are discussed. There is a quantum of time $\ensuremath{\tau}\ensuremath{\lesssim}\frac{\ensuremath{\hbar}}{{m}_{\ensuremath{\mu}}{c}^{3}}$ and a space-time complementarity relation $\ensuremath{\Delta}t\ensuremath{\Delta}x\ensuremath{\Delta}y\ensuremath{\Delta}z\ensuremath{\gtrsim}{\ensuremath{\tau}}^{4}$.

In this paper the physical implications of quaternion quantum mechanics are further explored. In a quanternionic Hilbert space HQ, the lattice of subspaces has a symmetry group which is isomorphic to the group of all co‐unitary transformations in HQ. In contrast to the complex space HC (ordinary Hilbert space), this group is connected, while for HC it consists of two disconnected pieces.The subgroup of transformations in HQ which associates with every quaternion q of magnitude 1, the correspondence ψ → qψq−1 for all ψ∈HQ (called Q conjugations), is isomorphic to the three‐dimensional rotation group. We postulate the principle of Q covariance: The physical laws are invariant under Q conjugations. The full significance of this postulate is brought to light in localizable systems where it can be generalized to the principle of general Q covariance: Physical laws are invariant under general Q conjugations. Under the latter we understand conjugation transformations which vary continuously from point to point.The implementation of this principle forces us to construct a theory of parallel transport of quaternions. The notions of Q‐covariant derivative and Q curvature are natural consequences thereof.There is a further new structure built into the quaternionic frame through the equations of motion. These equations single out a purely imaginary quaternion η(x) which may be a continuous function of the space—time coordinates. It corresponds to the i in the Schrodinger equation of ordinary quantum mechanics. We consider η(x) as a fundamental field, much like the tensor gμν in the general theory of relativity. We give here a classical theory of this field by assuming the simplest invariant Lagrangian which can be constructed out of η and the covariant Q connection. It is shown that this theory describes three vector fields, two of them with mass and charge, and one massless and neutral. The latter is identifiable with the classical electromagnetic field.

It is shown that field theories possessing a certain type of nonlinearity, termed intrinsic, also possess a new type of conservation law in which the conserved quantity is an integer even in the unquantized theory. For the example of general relativity the conserved quantity is shown to assume the values M = 0, ±1, ±2, …. This conservation law (“conservation of metricity”) is valid regardless of any interaction of the metric field with other fields and regardless even of the equation of motion assumed for the metric field itself. The basis of the work is the principle that a quantity which is unchanged in value by an arbitrary continuous deformation is a fortiori unchanged in value by the passage of time. Some properties of metricity and of its carrier are given.

SummaryCell-based therapies to treat retinal degeneration are now being tested in clinical trials. However, it is not known whether the source of stem cells is important for the production of differentiated cells suitable for transplantation. To test this, we generated induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from murine rod photoreceptors (r-iPSCs) and scored their ability to make retinae by using a standardized quantitative protocol called STEM-RET. We discovered that r-iPSCs more efficiently produced differentiated retinae than did embryonic stem cells (ESCs) or fibroblast-derived iPSCs (f-iPSCs). Retinae derived from f-iPSCs had fewer amacrine cells and other inner nuclear layer cells. Integrated epigenetic analysis showed that DNA methylation contributes to the defects in f-iPSC retinogenesis and that rod-specific CTCF insulator protein-binding sites may promote r-iPSC retinogenesis. Together, our data suggest that the source of stem cells is important for producing retinal neurons in three-dimensional (3D) organ cultures.

Summary To fulfill the bioenergetic and biosynthetic demand of proliferation, T cells reprogram their metabolic pathways from fatty acid β-oxidation and pyruvate oxidation via the TCA cycle to the glycolytic, pentose-phosphate, and glutaminolytic pathways. Two of the top-ranked candidate transcription factors potentially responsible for the activation-induced T cell metabolic transcriptome, HIF1α and Myc, were induced upon T cell activation, but only the acute deletion of Myc markedly inhibited activation-induced glycolysis and glutaminolysis in T cells. Glutamine deprivation compromised activation-induced T cell growth and proliferation, and this was partially replaced by nucleotides and polyamines, implicating glutamine as an important source for biosynthetic precursors in active T cells. Metabolic tracer analysis revealed a Myc-dependent metabolic pathway linking glutaminolysis to the biosynthesis of polyamines. Therefore, a Myc-dependent global metabolic transcriptome drives metabolic reprogramming in activated, primary T lymphocytes. This may represent a general mechanism for metabolic reprogramming under patho-physiological conditions.

Lulled by a serene exterior and enchanted by exquisite scenery, visitors to New Zealand continue to look upon it as “God's own country.” Roughly the size of Japan or the state of Colorado and populated by ten million cows, seventy million sheep, and a mere three million people, how could it be otherwise? Even the venerable James Reston has swallowed the line that New Zealanders are free of the problems that vex the rest of the world. “Otherwise, all is as silent here as the sheep in the fields,” he wrote after a visit to the Antipodes several years ago, “and this may be their most serious dilemma. For they make no trouble and therefore make no news.” No news, perhaps, but like most places throughout the world, New Zealand has its troubles.For the past decade New Zealand has been having increasingly serious economic difficulties; and since the country is generally twelve to eighteen months behind major international economic movements, predictions are that conditions will continue to deteriorate, at least through 1983.

The analytic extension of the Schwarzschild exterior solution is given in a closed form valid throughout empty space-time and possessing no irregularities except that at the origin. The gravitational field of a spherical point particle is then seen not to be invariant under time reversal for any admissible choice of time coordinate. The Schwarzschild surface $r=2m$ is not a singularity but acts as a perfect unidirectional membrane: causal influences can cross it but only in one direction. The apparent violation of the principle of sufficient reason seems similar to that which is associated with instabilities in other nonlinear phenomena.

Absorption of cyclosporine and uptake of radiolabelled glucose by the transplanted small intestine in the dog was investigated to develop physiologic markers of rejection. Cyclosporine in olive oil was given orally, and glucose-14C was instilled into an isolated pouch constructed from the transplanted jejunum. Biopsies were simultaneously obtained from an isolated pouch made from the transplanted ileum. The absorption data were correlated with the histologic findings. Absorption of cyclosporine was of the same magnitude in autotransplanted dogs as it was in allotransplanted dogs with a normal graft. Absorption of cyclosporine in allotransplanted dogs with histologic signs of rejection was significantly reduced. Peak uptake of glucose-14C was noted 5 to 10 minutes after instillation of the isotope in autotransplanted and allotransplanted dogs with a normal graft. Allotransplanted dogs undergoing rejection had a delayed appearance of peak uptake and significantly reduced absolute uptake. In conclusion, absorption of cyclosporine and uptake of radiolabelled glucose can be utilized as functional monitors of intestinal allograft rejection.

I have been trying to make quantum logical models of the physical world in the way McCulloch and Pitts [1] and von Neumann [2] made classical logical models of nervous systems. As a result my ideas about quantum logic and about the physical world have undergone a process of mutual adaptation.

An investigation of 78 cases of typical Australian Stringhalt from 52 properties in Victoria was carried out from 1985 to 1987. Horses were either examined in the field (n = 52), referred to the Veterinary Clinical Centre (n = 13) or clinical details were obtained verbally (n = 13). In addition 10 cases of false or atypical stringhalt were examined. Detailed soil and pasture analysis was carried out on 14 properties where Australian Stringhalt had occurred. Information was also obtained on epidemiology of the condition from a survey of practitioners. Fifty of the 52 cases examined in the field occurred in horses that were dependent upon poor quality unimproved dry pasture. In all but a few cases, there was no pasture improvement or fertiliser application, leading to the development of weed-dominated pastures, particularly by flatweed, Hypochaeris radicata. The range of clinical signs exhibited by horses with Australian Stringhalt was described and a grading system proposed to classify horses according to severity of signs. Laryngeal abnormalities were present in 10 of 11 cases examined endoscopically and these horses exhibited increased electromyographic (EMG) activity in the long digital extensor muscle at rest and during hindlimb flexion. To a large extent, the EMG changes disappeared and digital extensor muscle atrophy improved in two horses that were monitored to recovery. Deep peroneal nerve conduction studies in four horses with Australian Stringhalt showed a substantial reduction in nerve conduction velocity and when stimulated at 50 Hz were unable to sustain activation of the long digital extensor muscle. EMG and evoked responses appeared to be sensitive indicators of the state of the disease.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

A program for the reconstruction of the time space continuum and the linear space of quantum states, from a more basic theory of discrete diagrams, it outlined in which quantum complementarity occurs because the observer is part of the “entire situation” described by the state vector according to Bohr, and quark confinement occurs because there is a finite elementary time space unit and quark lines in the same hadron diagram are a small number of units apart.

The fast-twitch flexor digitorum longus (FDL) muscle was partially denervated by a unilateral section of the L7 ventral root. After approximately 100 days the isometric, force-velocity and histochemical properties of single motor units from the partially denervated muscle were determined. The diameter of the nerve axons supplying the muscle were also examined. The extrapolated maximum speed of sarcomere shortening (Vmax) of the enlarged motor units was significantly less than that of the control whole muscle Vmax. It is concluded that the motoneurone is capable of expanding its territory and therefore its tension generating capability without any apparent change in axonal diameter. In addition, the intrinsic properties of the muscle fibres are altered.

Classical quantum mechanics is a hybrid of classical concepts (space, time) and quantum concepts (states, tests). A more consistently quantum dynamics is proposed, with space, time and matter replaced by one primitive concept of process. Examples are given of relativistic propagators, mass spectrum and scattering amplitudes computed in such a quantum dynamics. Mass spectra exhibit Brillouin-like zones, as of propagation in the crystal of time. In particular, the electromagnetic and weak interactions may be mediated by the zeroth and first zone of one four-spinor process. Then the range of the weak interaction approximates the fundamental time.

Impulse conduction in normal and pathologically altered myelinated nerves has been extensively reviewed by many workers (Paintal, 1978; Sunderland, 1978; Waxman, 1978; 1980). Conduction velocity of nerve impulses is of particular clinical importance in demyelinating disorders (Rogart & Ritchie, 1977; Rasminsky & Sears, 1973). Notwithstanding these data, many aspects of nerve conduction velocity, particularly the underlying mechanisms that determine it, are incompletely understood (Paintal, 1978; Waxman, 1980).

Steady electric fields are known to affect development, growth and repair of various tissues in vivo and in vitro. Confirmed effects include accelerated repair and regeneration of articular cartilage and bone fractures (Norton, 1974; Baker et al., 1974; Bassett et al., 1974); the induction and control of morphogenesis in amputated forelimb regeneration in adult frogs (Smith, 1974); orientation and acceleration of neurite growth in chick dorsal root ganglia in tissue culture (Jaffe & Poo, 1979) and in differentiating frog embryonic neuroblasts (Patel & Poo, 1982) and myoblasts (Hinkle et al., 1981). Because there are few reports of electric fields influencing mammalian central and peripheral nerves (Wilson et al., 1974; Wilson, 1981), our aim was to examine the effects of such fields on peripheral nerve regeneration and functional recovery in the cat.

Astrocytic tumors, the most common of the primary intracerebral neoplasms, are a heterogeneous group in terms of clinical behavior and pathologic appearance. Current histopathologic classification emphasizes this aspect; however, its application to tissue specimens removed by means of CT-guided stereotactic brain biopsy requires special considerations. Pertinent aspects of pathology relevant to assessment by CT scan stereotactic needle biopsy are discussed, together with a presentation of early results on the use of this diagnostic technique.

Set theory may be used as a language to talk about things in some mathematical or nonmathematical domain of discourse, representing things by sets. When our knowledge of these things is complete and unchanging, it is convenient to represent one thing by one point, providing a 1-1 or complete description of the domain of discourse. When our knowledge is incomplete at the time the Inaguage is being formulated, it is customary to represent one thing by many points, in a 1-to-many or incomplete description, later reducing this multiplicity on the basis of later information. The multiplicity representing a thing in such an incomplete description is called the space of the thing, and is generally provided with further structure. The phase space of classical mechanics, the phase space of thermodynamics, the sample space of statistics and the vector space of quantum mechanics are examples of such spaces and incomplete descriptions, often of the same thing. In all these examples but the quantum it is supposed that the incomplete description finally completed, or at least may be, by choosing one point of the space on the basis of later information. In the quantum case, the space is used to record a process of production or preparation, and a dual space records the subsequent process of absorption or detection.

We extend Einstein's field equations and Hilbert's action for gravity to the hyperspace of dimension N/sup 2/ that is built out of N-component spinors in the way that four-dimensional time-space is built out of two-component ones. The hypergravitational field equation is of differential order N in a chronometric tensor with N indices. The natural spin structures of the unitary groups U(N) define Einstein-type cosmologies, static, U(N)-invariant, and closed, that satisfy the extended equations with neither dust nor cosmological constant, except for N = 2 which requires both.

Physics has a warp and a woof, like a fabric stretched across many levels of abstraction and woven out two millenia long. Across the fabric is a pattern persistent over the entire length in which the levels tend to group themselves into three levels of increasing abstraction: theories of matter and mechanics, theories of space and geometry, and theories of logic. Running along the woof is a second pattern, a sequence of discovery pursued first at the most concrete level and then retraced at deeper levels. In this evolutionary process, the theory first passes from its earliest, most ‘rigid’, form into a different but still rigid form (fracture), and then into a non-rigid or ‘flexible’ theory with a continuum of freedom (flow). This process of fracture and flow of physical theories has attacked the deepest levels, those concerned with the logic of the physical world, only in this century and has yet to run its course there. Its working out at these levels is a principal motif of the present and of the immediate future of physics.

Today we are apt to take the concepts of logic as fixed. For Boole, underlying every class or proposition was a mental act he called an election: the operation of selecting from an arbitrary class the members belonging to the given class, or of which the proposition is true. His laws all concern the effects of these acts of election performed in succession or alternation. He posited that elections are 1. distributive, 2. commutative, and 3. idem-potent. He goes on to say that some will challenge the a priori truth of these laws perhaps, and some might even suspend them, but the resulting system of logic will then be a very different logic from that which we know. First I want to show these laws have indeed been challenged and suspended. So I brought along hardware for physical, not mental, elections for photons; three polarizers, x, y, z at angles of θ = 0, π/2, π/4.

Four cases of sinoatrial heart block with the Wenckebach phenomenon have been presented. All the patients were observed within a period of a few months and all but one had received digitalis in relation to the heart block. The importance of observation of long electrocardiographic tracings in the diagnosis of this disorder is emphasized. The possibility of sinoatrial heart block with Wenckebach phenomenon being an early manifestation of digitalis toxicity is suggested.

The powerful conceptions of nature that have been surveyed at this Symposium incorporate two recent revolutions and yet may still be upside-down in an interesting and suggestive sense. They employ spacetime to describe matter and process as though spacetime were primary and process secondary. The primacy of process has been urged by philosophers from Heraclitus to Whitehead and beyond. The dependence of our perception of spacetime upon dynamical processes was important during the conception of special relativity, when Einstein argued operationally from the invariance properties of Maxwell’s dynamics and light signals to those of spacetime geometry. Even theories using a deep spacetime structure recognize that the spacetime we see is surface structure, is at least renormalized. I believe that the way has been prepared to turn over the structure of present physics, to take process as fundamental at the microscopic level and spacetime and matter as semimacroscopic statistical constructs akin to temperature and entropy.

Publisher Summary Over the years there has accumulated an impressive number of reports of encounters with glowing balls of various sizes that drift through the air for seconds or minutes before softly and suddenly vanishing away or exploding. The common name for these events is ball lightning. The first scientist to observe ball lightning appears to have been G. W. Richman, who worked with M. V. Lomonosov at the St. Petersburg Academy. Richman's experiment was not very different from Benjamin Franklin's. Richman led an ungrounded lightning rod to an electrometer in his laboratory. At the inquest, the engraver I. Sokolov reported that as a thunderstorm was approaching, he saw a pale blue fireball the size of a fist leave the rod and float silently through the air to Richman's face. There was then a sound like a small cannon, at which time Sokolov lost consciousness. When he recovered there was an acrid smoke. Richman was not breathing; there was a red spot on Richman's forehead, and two holes in one of his shoes. This chapter explores a consistent model of ball lightning, explaining the principal circumstances of Richman's death and Sokolov's testimony. The outline of the work done in this chapter is as follows: Some sample ball lightning observations are given to emphasize the rather fantastic behavior often reported. Some of the published theories and related experiments that have been used to explain ball lightning are critically reviewed. This chapter describes experiments showing that just oxygen and nitrogen permit discharges of anomalously high luminous efficiency and afterglow persistence electroluminescence, experiments dating back to Rayleigh's studies of “active nitrogen.” The luminous efficiency and half-life are estimated. The presence of electroluminescent air in lightning channels is inferred from photographic records. Then the question of providing this power is considered. The electtrohydrodynamic and molecular evolution of a ball of electroluminescent air from ordinary lightning or a glow discharge in the atmospheric electric field is studied. This chapter concludes that ball lightning, it would seem, is a natural laboratory not of magnetohydrodynamics, as was once hoped, but of electrohydrodynamics and molecular physics.

A case of a patient with ventricular tachycardia which was converted to normal sinus rhythm following the administration of digitalis as the sole therapeutic agent is reported.

The electrocardiographic alterations are reported in 37 patients who underwent various neurosurgical procedures. Striking changes were observed, the chief of which consisted of alterations in the T wave, prolongation of the Q-T interval, and increase in the amplitude of the U wave. Various considerations are discussed in an attempt to elucidate the mechanism of these findings. No significant alteration was noted in the serum electrolytes during the postoperative period. It is difficult to conceive that the electrocardiographic changes represent primary myocardial changes, because the great majority of patients were without clinical evidence of cardiovascular disease and had an aver-age age of 38.7 years. The electrocardiographic changes are most readily explained as being secondary to alterations in cerebral function after the various neurosurgical procedures.

// Justina McEvoy 1,* , Panduka Nagahawatte 2,* , David Finkelstein 2 , Jennifer Richards-Yutz 6 , Marcus Valentine 13 , Jing Ma 14 , Charles Mullighan 14 , Guangchun Song 14 , Xiang Chen 2 , Matthew Wilson 4 , Rachel Brennan 12 , Stanley Pounds 3 , Jared Becksfort 2 , Robert Huether 2 , Charles Lu 7 , Robert S. Fulton 7,8 , Lucinda L. Fulton 7,8 , Xin Hong 7,8 , David J. Dooling 7,8 , Kerri Ochoa 7,8 , Elaine R. Mardis 7,8,9 , Richard K.Wilson 7,8,10 , John Easton 2 , Jinghui Zhang 2 , James R. Downing 14 , Arupa Ganguly 5,6,* and Michael A. Dyer 1,4,11 for the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital – Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project 1 Departments of Developmental Neurobiology, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA. 2 Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA. 3 Biostatistics, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA. 4 Department of Ophthalmology, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN 5 Department of Genetics, School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA 6 Genetic Diagnostic Laboratory at University of Pennsylvania, School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA. 7 The Genome Institute, Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, St Louis, Missouri, USA. 8 Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, St Louis, Missouri, USA. 9 Siteman Cancer Center, Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, St Louis, Missouri, USA. 10 Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, St Louis, Missouri, USA 11 Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, MD 12 Oncology, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA. 13 Cytogenetics, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA. 14 Pathology, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA. * These authors contributed equally to this work. Correspondence: Michael A. Dyer , email: // Keywords : chromothripsis, retinoblastoma, RB1, MYCN Received : December 13, 2013 Accepted : January 7, 2014 Published : January 11, 2014 Abstract Retinoblastoma is a rare childhood cancer of the developing retina. Most retinoblastomas initiate with biallelic inactivation of the RB1 gene through diverse mechanisms including point mutations, nucleotide insertions, deletions, loss of heterozygosity and promoter hypermethylation. Recently, a novel mechanism of retinoblastoma initiation was proposed. Gallie and colleagues discovered that a small proportion of retinoblastomas lack RB1 mutations and had MYCN amplification [ 1 ]. In this study, we identified recurrent chromosomal, regional and focal genomic lesions in 94 primary retinoblastomas with their matched normal DNA using SNP 6.0 chips. We also analyzed the RB1 gene mutations and compared the mechanism of RB1 inactivation to the recurrent copy number variations in the retinoblastoma genome. In addition to the previously described focal amplification of MYCN and deletions in RB1 and BCOR , we also identified recurrent focal amplification of OTX2 , a transcription factor required for retinal photoreceptor development. We identified 10 retinoblastomas in our cohort that lacked RB1 point mutations or indels. We performed whole genome sequencing on those 10 tumors and their corresponding germline DNA. In one of the tumors, the RB1 gene was unaltered, the MYCN gene was amplified and RB1 protein was expressed in the nuclei of the tumor cells. In addition, several tumors had complex patterns of structural variations and we identified 3 tumors with chromothripsis at the RB1 locus. This is the first report of chromothripsis as a mechanism for RB1 gene inactivation in cancer.

In late 1804, William Blackwood established a small publishing and bookselling firm in Edinburgh. Over the next 175 years, William Blackwood & Sons became one of the leading publishers in Britain, enjoying both local and international success. Early on it championed the works of Scottish writers, and later gained acclaim as the publisher of G.W. Steevens, George Eliot, Charles Whibley, and Joseph Conrad. Its political influence was also widespread; in 1817 it founded the monthly "Blackwood's Magazine", which featured literary, critical, political, and journalistic commentary and analysis, and was a powerful force in British conservative politics. Two hundred years after the founding of this significant influence on British literary, political, and social history, this collection of essays reappraises the place of the Blackwood firm and its magazine in literary and print culture history. Editor David Finkelstein brings together an array of eminent scholars and critics from the US, Canada, Scandinavia, and the UK to examine Blackwoods from a variety of interdisciplinary perspectives. The resulting collection covers an impressive range of subject areas, including Romantic and Victorian literature, print culture, media history, and New Journalism.

Spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA) is an adult-onset motor neuron disease, caused by the expansion of a trinucleotide repeat (TNR) in exon 1 of the androgen receptor (AR) gene. This disorder is characterized by degeneration of motor and sensory neurons, proximal muscular atrophy, and endocrine abnormalities, such as gynecomastia and reduced fertility. We describe the development of a transgenic model of SBMA expressing a full-length human AR (hAR) cDNA carrying 65 (AR(65)) or 120 CAG repeats (AR(120)), with widespread expression driven by the cytomegalovirus promoter. Mice carrying the AR(120) transgene displayed behavioral and motor dysfunction, while mice carrying 65 CAG repeats showed a mild phenotype. Progressive muscle weakness and atrophy was observed in AR(120) mice and was associated with the loss of alpha-motor neurons in the spinal cord. There was no evidence of neurodegeneration in other brain structures. Motor dysfunction was observed in both male and female animals, showing that in SBMA the polyglutamine repeat expansion causes a dominant gain-of-function mutation in the AR. The male mice displayed a progressive reduction in sperm production consistent with testis defects reported in human patients. These mice represent the first model to reproduce the key features of SBMA, making them a useful resource for characterizing disease progression, and for testing therapeutic strategies for both polyglutamine and motor neuron diseases.

This article details the life of Archie Turnbull as an Edinburgh publisher, initially working at W. & R. Chambers from 1949 to 1952, then as secretary of the Edinburgh University Press from 1952 to 1987. It notes his role in the expansion of EUP during his tenure, places Edinburgh University Press in the context of other contemporary Scottish publishing houses, and draws on an interview with Turnbull in October 2001 for comments on his professional career. It also records how important academic series such as the Edinburgh Edition of the Waverley Novels were nurtured and notes how EUP was able to flourish thanks to a general 1960s expansion of UK higher education and the positive institutional support of Edinburgh University.

As a disease-modifying approach for Alzheimer's disease (AD), clioquinol (CQ) targets beta-amyloid (Abeta) reactions with synaptic Zn and Cu yet promotes metal uptake. Here we characterize the second-generation 8-hydroxy quinoline analog PBT2, which also targets metal-induced aggregation of Abeta, but is more effective as a Zn/Cu ionophore and has greater blood-brain barrier permeability. Given orally to two types of amyloid-bearing transgenic mouse models of AD, PBT2 outperformed CQ by markedly decreasing soluble interstitial brain Abeta within hours and improving cognitive performance to exceed that of normal littermate controls within days. Nontransgenic mice were unaffected by PBT2. The current data demonstrate that ionophore activity, inhibition of in vitro metal-mediated Abeta reactions, and blood-brain barrier permeability are indices that predict a potential disease-modifying drug for AD. The speed of recovery of the animals underscores the acutely reversible nature of the cognitive deficits associated with transgenic models of AD.

Measurements of resistivities of quartz-bearing rocks in the vicinity of Californian faults suggest that piezoelectric fields due to low-frequency seismic waves are not responsible for earthquake lightning. Alternatives are briefly suggested.

ELECTROCARDIOGRAPHIC changes have frequently been reported in cases of acute leukemia, 1-6 but they have most commonly occurred as the result of myocardial or pericardial infiltration, 1-5,7,8 , bleeding into the heart itself, 1,4,9 chronic anoxia, 10 or infiltration of the conduction tissue 6 and valve leaflets. 8 Myocardial infarction is rarely mentioned as a concomitant of acute leukemia in large series of such cases. We recently treated a 33-year-old man whose second relapse of acute granulocytic leukemia was complicated by transmural inferolateral myocardial infarction from which he recovered without incident. Report of a Case The patient was a 33-year-old white man who was initially admitted to the Graduate Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania on Sept 10, 1964, because of marked elevation of his white blood cell count (WBC) and cellulitis and deep calf thrombophlebitis of the left leg. Smears of the peripheral blood and aspirated bone marrow were consistent with acute granulocytic leukemia. The cellulitis

Studies of plasmas produced by sparks in vacuum are reported. The observations of principal interest concern the speed with which such plasmas leave the spark. The conclusions about plasma speeds are that they are approximately ten times greater than the thermal speeds associated with spark temperature, varying between 2 × 106 and 2 × 107 cm/sec, and in the range observed, the velocities are approximately independent of the spark parameters. It is suggested that the pinch effect may be the mechanism of plasma acceleration.

Since 1918 quinidine has been used successfully in the treatment and prevention of various cardiac arrhythmias, particularly extrasystoles, paroxysmal tachycardia, atrial fibrillation, and flutter. Since the oral ingestion of quinidine derivatives reach a blood plasma peak relatively quickly and the concentration following a single dose falls rather rapidly, 1-5 it is necessary to administer not only multiple daily doses but frequently night doses to maintain an effective plasma level. In order to avoid multiple doses, attempts have been made at various times to administer a slower- and longer-acting preparation. Sampson et al. (1952), 6 in an effort to find a more slowly absorbed and longer-acting preparation of quinidine, used a delayed-absorptive-coated tablet of quinidine sulfate. They gave 0.8 gm. as a single dose to five patients. The maximum quinidine level, which ranged from 2.3 to 3.3 mg. per liter (average, 2.72 mg. per liter) was reached in 5 to 12