Plasma somatomedin activity in normal and scoliotic children

In a study of plasma somatomedin activity in childhood scoliosis a group of five patients with congenital scoliosis was found to have significantly lower plasma somatomedin levels compared with a group of 20 normal children. A group of 52 patients with "idiopathic" scoliosis had normal plasma somatomedin levels. There is no apparent difference in the plasma somatomedin activity between the sexes, and no change in plasma somatomedin activity with chronologic age in these children, suggesting that normal adult somatomedin levels have been reached.     

Encephalopathy during oral treatment with bismuth salts

Side effects of orally administered bismuthic salts have been known for many years. Many systems are involved, including the digestive and urinary. The authors discuss a recently discovered effect on the central nervous system, termed "bismuth encephalopathy". In the light of the medical literature reviewed, two original aspects are stressed: the clinical symptoms are stereotyped and completely reversible, and the distribution of the disease is almost epidemic, being limited in time and space. The prodromes include confusion, asthenia, slowing of mental functions and disturbance of gait. The clinical picture is dominated by four major symptoms: confusion (again), ataxia, dysarthria and, above all, myoclonic jerks. In conclusion, various pathogenetic hypotheses are considered. The purpose of this study is to enable the general practitioner to detect the development of this condition early in treatment with oral bismuthic salts. Withdrawal of the medication always results in normalization of the patient's condition.     

Recognition of depressed affect in hospitalized psychiatric patients: staff and patient perceptions

A comparison of self-report vs. observer rating of depressed mood in a heterogenous inpatient population revealed wide variations in concordance among diagnostic groups. Patients diagnosed as having Affective Psychosis and "Other' illnesses showed the highest correlation between four self-report scales and an observer rating scale. Patients with a diagnosis of depressive Neurosis showed only modest correlation, while Schizophrenics revealed no significant correlation, on these instruments, suggesting inconsistent communication of affect from Schizophrenic patients to observers. In contrast, when self-report scales were intercorrelated, patients in all four diagnostic categories showed highly significant correlations, indicating that they were consistently reporting their affective state on these instruments. The implications of these findings for future research as well as for practical clinical management are discussed.     

Homotopy Path Spaces for Families of Admissible Paths

Motivated by the search for universal orbits in geometric control theory and universal topological semigroups over local semigroups in topological groups, particularly Lie groups, we introduce a very general axiomatic notion of “trajectory,” namely a topological space equipped with a family of paths satisfying certain properties that make it what we call an “admissible family.” Considering one-parameter families of these paths as a homotopy allows us to construct a homotopy path space, our main object of consideration. We identify a distinguished subfamily of admissible paths via what we call a selection or partial selection and show how this insures collapses in the homotopy path space structure. We establish sufficient conditions to identify the homotopy path space as the simply connected covering or as residing in the simply connected covering and point out certain of its universal properties in this setting. We close by applying and illustrating our results in the setting of Lie groups and semigroups.     

Indoor mold levels and current asthma among school‐aged children in Saskatchewan,Canada

Current knowledge regarding the association between indoor mold exposures and asthma is still limited. The objective of this case–control study was to investigate the relationship between objectively measured indoor mold levels and current asthma among school‐aged children. Parents completed a questionnaire survey of health history and home environmental conditions. Asthma cases had a history of doctor‐diagnosed asthma or current wheeze without a cold in the past 12 months. Controls were age‐ and sex‐matched to cases. Vacuumed dust samples were collected from the child's indoor play area and mattress. Samples were assessed for mold levels and quantified in colony‐forming units (CFU). Sensitization to mold allergens was also determined by skin testing. Being a case was associated with family history of asthma, pet ownership, and mold allergy. Mold levels (CFU/m²) in the dust samples of children's mattress and play area floors were moderately correlated (r = 0.56; P < 0.05). High mold levels (≥30 000 CFU/m²) in dust samples from play [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 2.6; 95% CI: 1.03–6.43] and mattress (aOR) = 3.0; 95% CI: 1.11–8.00) areas were significantly associated with current asthma. In this study high levels of mold are a risk factor for asthma in children.     

The Effect of Paper Surface on Tone Reproduction

It has been observed, and proved experimentally, that the nature of the paper surface has a considerable effect on the tone reproduction characteristics of halftone processes. It is concluded that any tone reproduction curve related to a halftone process is meaningless unless the type of paper to which it applies is specified in general terms.     

Factors controlling volatile organic compounds in dwellings in Melbourne,Australia

This study characterized indoor volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and investigated the effects of the dwelling characteristics, building materials, occupant activities, and environmental conditions on indoor VOC concentrations in 40 dwellings located in Melbourne, Australia, in 2008 and 2009. A total of 97 VOCs were identified. Nine VOCs, n‐butane, 2‐methylbutane, toluene, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, d‐limonene, ethanol, 2‐propanol, and acetic acid, accounted for 68% of the sum of all VOCs. The median indoor concentrations of all VOCs were greater than those measured outdoors. The occupant density was positively associated with indoor VOC concentrations via occupant activities, including respiration and combustion. Terpenes were associated with the use of household cleaning and laundry products. A petroleum‐like indoor VOC signature of alkanes and aromatics was associated with the proximity of major roads. The indoor VOC concentrations were negatively correlated (P < 0.05) with ventilation. Levels of VOCs in these Australian dwellings were lower than those from previous studies in North America and Europe, probably due to a combination of an ongoing temporal decrease in indoor VOC concentrations and the leakier nature of Australian dwellings.     

Chemical Ecology and Sociality in Aphids: Opportunities and Directions

Aphids have long been recognized as good phytochemists. They are small sap-feeding plant herbivores with complex life cycles that can involve cyclical parthenogenesis and seasonal host plant alternation, and most are plant specialists. Aphids have distinctive traits for identifying and exploiting their host plants, including the expression of polyphenisms, a form of discrete phenotypic plasticity characteristic of insects, but taken to extreme in aphids. In a relatively small number of species, a social polyphenism occurs, involving sub-adult “soldiers” that are behaviorally or morphologically specialized to defend their nestmates from predators. Soldiers are sterile in many species, constituting a form of eusociality and reproductive division of labor that bears striking resemblances with other social insects. Despite a wealth of knowledge about the chemical ecology of non-social aphids and their phytophagous lifestyles, the molecular and chemoecological mechanisms involved in social polyphenisms in aphids are poorly understood. We provide a brief primer on aspects of aphid life cycles and chemical ecology for the non-specialists, and an overview of the social biology of aphids, with special attention to chemoecological perspectives. We discuss some of our own efforts to characterize how host plant chemistry may shape social traits in aphids. As good phytochemists, social aphids provide a bridge between the study of insect social evolution sociality, and the chemical ecology of plant-insect interactions. Aphids provide many promising opportunities for the study of sociality in insects, and to understand both the convergent and novel traits that characterize complex sociality on plants.     

Past is prologue: Teachers composing narratives about digital literacy

This study examines the technological literacy autobiographical narratives (TLANs) written by 23 graduate students enrolled in a teacher-preparation course, Teaching Writing in a Digital Age. The purpose of this research was to understand the meanings and values these future composition teachers ascribed to technological literacy in their own past histories, as well as potential sources of reluctance or resistance to engage technological literacy in the teaching of composition. Findings from these TLANs suggest that participants’ past experiences with technology in school were often less compelling than extracurricular motives for using technology, such as social contact, playful experimentation, and the pursuit of existing interests. The article also explores the TLAN as a pedagogical activity and its potential for helping future instructors realign their orientations toward digital literacies.     

Integrated manufacturing,employee and business performance: Australian and New Zealand evidence

This article reports on a large field study of Integrated Manufacturing (IM), consisting of Total Quality Management (TQM), Just in Time (JIT) and Advanced Manufacturing Technology (AMT). The relationship between these facets of Integrated Manufacturing and performance was examined empirically, including measures of employee performance and manufacturing performance. There was a significant correlation between employee performance and manufacturing performance. While all three facets of Integrated Manufacturing were relatively strongly connected with employee performance, manufacturing performance was significantly but less strongly connected to the intensity of TQM and JIT than employee performance, and not connected with the intensity of Advanced Manufacturing Technology. Some second-order interactive effects between the facets of Integrated Manufacturing and performance were found. Further, by partitioning the large data set into three using the AMT factor as a cutting variable, it was found that the stronger the AMT environment, the stronger the explanatory power of TQM and JIT on both employee and manufacturing performance. The interactive impact of AMT and TQM was significantly positively related to both employee and manufacturing performance.