Leonardo da Vinci: the search for the soul

The human race has always contemplated the question of the anatomical location of the soul. During the Renaissance the controversy crystallized into those individuals who supported the heart ("cardiocentric soul") and others who supported the brain ("cephalocentric soul") as the abode for this elusive entity. Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) joined a long list of other explorers in the "search for the soul." The method he used to resolve this anatomical problem involved the accumulation of information from ancient and contemporary sources, careful notetaking, discussions with acknowledged experts, and his own personal search for the truth. Leonardo used a myriad of innovative methods acquired from his knowledge of painting, sculpture, and architecture to define more clearly the site of the "senso comune"--the soul. In this review the author examines the sources of this ancient question, the knowledge base tapped by Leonardo for his personal search for the soul, and the views of key individuals who followed him.     

Refining the level for anticipated hepatotoxicity in acetaminophen poisoning

Treatment of an acetaminophen overdose with N-acetyl cysteine usually is based on the position of the 4-h acetaminophen (APAP) level on the Rumack-Matthew nomogram; however, there is disagreement on the level at which clinically relevant hepatotoxicity occurs. A retrospective review of all acute adult formulation APAP exposures reported to our poison center between 1986 and 1993 was performed and cases corresponding to the "possible risk or toxicity" range on the nomogram were identified. Our current poison center protocol for APAP poisoning does not recommend treatment with N-acetylcysteine (NAC) in low-risk patients if the 4-h serum APAP level or the extrapolated equivalent falls within the possible toxicity range on the nomogram. Seventeen cases met the inclusion criteria for the study and received no NAC; six additional patients met inclusion criteria but received one or two doses of NAC before therapy was discontinued. No patients in either group demonstrated clinical evidence of hepatotoxicity. This pilot study suggests that patients with no risk factors and APAP levels in the "possible risk" range may not require NAC therapy.     

From software extensions to product lines of dataflow programs

Dataflow programs are widely used. Each program is a directed graph where nodes are computations and edges indicate the flow of data. In prior work, we reverse-engineered legacy dataflow programs by deriving their optimized implementations from a simple specification graph using graph transformations called refinements and optimizations. In MDE speak, our derivations were PIM-to-PSM mappings. In this paper, we show how extensions complement refinements, optimizations, and PIM-to-PSM derivations to make the process of reverse engineering complex legacy dataflow programs tractable. We explain how optional functionality in transformations can be encoded, thereby enabling us to encode product lines of transformations as well as product lines of dataflow programs. We describe the implementation of extensions in the \(\mathtt{ReFlO}\) tool and present two non-trivial case studies as evidence of our work’s generality.     

“We Release Them Little by Little”: Maturation and Gender Identity as Seen in the Use of Mobile Telephony

This paper examines the social meaning behind the adoption of mobile telephones by teenagers in Norway. Through this adoption process one can see the way in which youths are developing their adult identity as well as their gendered identity. The primary database used in this analysis is from two telephone questionnaires of Norwegian youth aged 13–20 carried out in October and December 1998. A total of 2007 interviews are included. The survey instrument covered teenagers’ ownership of mobile telephones, payment forms and the use of mobile telephones to send and receive Short Message System (SMS) text messages. In addition, the analysis draws on a survey of 1001 Norwegian parents and ethnographic interviews of 12 families.     

A new method for evaluating antiarrhythmic drug efficacy

To develop standards for distinguishing antiarrhythmic drug effect from spontaneous variability of premature ventricular complexes (PVCs), 21 males (mean age 56 +/- 8 years) with chronic ischemic heart disease and PVCs underwent symptom-limited treadmill exercise testing and 24-hour ambulatory monitoring before and after 2 weeks of placebo medication. Linear regression analysis was used to describe the relationship between baseline and placebo PVC frequency for various indexes of ventricular ectopic activity and to establish 95% and 99% one-tailed confidence intervals for this relationship within the group of 21 patients. The lower limit of baseline PVC frequency for which the procedure could distinguish a placebo from a true drug response, termed the "sensitivity threshold," was an average frequency of 2.2 PVCs/hour for ambulatory electrocardiographic monitoring and 1.2 PVCs/min for treadmill exercise testing. All patients exceeded the sensitivity threshold on baseline ambulatory ECGs, but only 38% of patients did so on baseline treadmill exercise tests. To establish antiarrhythmic efficacy with 95% confidence, the minimal percent reduction of PVCs between baseline and placebo visits was 68% for treadmill exercise testing and 65% for ambulatory electrocardiography. Although these standards were developed in patients with chronic ischemic heart disease, the model can be used to establish antiarrhythmic drug efficacy in any patient group.     

单片式降压型稳压器可经受苛刻的汽车环境并仅消耗100μA的静态电流-设计要点378

引言 汽车电子系统对当今的DC/DC转换器提出了很高的要求。它们必须要能够在很宽的温度和输入电压范围内（包括超过60V的负载突降瞬变以及至4V的冷车发动压降）精确地调节输出电压。转换器还必须能够通过在一个宽广的负载电流范围内维持高效率来最大限度地减小“始终接通”系统中的电池电量消耗。众多的48V非隔离型电信应用、40V Fire Wire外设以及带自动插塞式适配器的电池供电型应用也提出了相似的要求。LT3437拥有同类产品中最佳的性能，可在采用小巧的耐热增强型3mm×3mm DFN封装的情况下满足上述所有要求。     

Monitoring Moisture Uptake and Delamination in CFRP-Reinforced Concrete Structures with Electrochemical Impedance Sensors

Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) sensors have been used to inspect carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) -reinforced concrete structures exposed to a variety of test conditions. Similar specimens were also used to investigate the detection of delamination between the CFRP and the concrete using a modified wedge test configuration. The use of external electrodes attached to the CFRP surface, coupled with the embedded rebar, provided the best results. Equivalent circuit modeling was used to analyze the impedance spectra. Several circuit parameters, especially the capacitance and constant phase element (CPE) magnitude, correlated very well with both bonded area/delamination and moisture. Both parameters exhibit a linear relationship with delamination area. The capacitance also showed a linear relationship with moisture content while the CPE was more strongly dependent on moisture. Differences in the response of the specimens subjected to the different exposure conditions were seen and explained based on the moisture uptake of the various specimens.     

GnRH signalling pathways and GnRH-induced homologous desensitization in a gonadotrope cell line (alphaT3-1)

Exposure of the gonadotrope cells to gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) reduces their responsiveness to a new GnRH stimulation (homologous desensitization). The time frame as well as the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon are yet unclear. We studied in a gonadotrope cell line (alphaT3-1) the effects of short as well as long term GnRH pretreatments on the GnRH-induced phospholipases-C (PLC), -A2 (PLA2) and -D (PLD) activities, by measuring the production of IP3, total inositol phosphates (IPs), arachidonic acid (AA) and phosphatidylethanol (PEt) respectively. We demonstrated that although rapid desensitization of GnRH-induced IP3 formation did not occur in these cells, persistent stimulation of cells with GnRH or its analogue resulted in a time-dependent attenuation of GnRH-elicited IPs formation. GnRH-induced IPs desensitization was potentiated after direct activation of PKC by the phorbol ester TPA, suggesting the involvement of distinct mechanisms in the uncoupling exerted by either GnRH or TPA on GnRH-stimulated PI hydrolysis. The levels of individual phosphoinositides remained unchanged under any desensitization condition applied. Interestingly, while the GnRH-induced PLA2 activity was rapidly desensitized (2.5 min) after GnRH pretreatments, the neuropeptide-evoked PLD activation was affected at later times, indicating an important time-dependent contribution of these enzymatic activities in the sequential events underlying the GnRH-induced homologous desensitization processes in the gonadotropes. Under GnRH desensitization conditions, TPA was still able to induce PLD activation and to further potentiate the GnRH-evoked PLD activity. AlphaT3-1 cells possess several PKC isoforms which, except PKCzeta, were differentially down-regulated by TPA (PKCalpha, betaII, delta, epsilon, eta) or GnRH (PKCbetaII, delta, epsilon, eta). In spite of the presence of PKC inhibitors or down-regulation of PKC isoforms by TPA, the desensitizing effect of the neuropeptide on GnRH-induced IPs, AA and PEt formation remained unchanged. In conclusion, in alphaT3-1 cells the GnRH-induced homologous desensitization affects the GnRH coupling with PLC, PLA2 and PLD by mechanism(s) which do not implicate TPA-sensitive PKC isoforms, but likely reflect time-dependent modification(s) on the activation processes of the enzymes.