Virtual knowledge: bistable reality and the solution of ill-definedproblems

Dynamic behavior is enacted from static observations, but as experience is reconstructed with concepts, mutual exclusivity replaces correspondence between the factors of action and observation. This bistable reality generates incommensurable world views between groups, which constrain measurement and give rise to a tension that enables change but also results in misleading accounts, as if behavior were in response to virtual knowledge. In the form of independent scientific peer reviews at a Department of Energy site, tension was applied to improve practices of science in the field. Implications for a physics of interaction are addressed     

Localization of the gene for rapidly progressive autosomal dominant parkinsonism and dementia with pallido-ponto-nigral degeneration to chromosome 17q21

The distribution of calcyclin in some chicken tissues was studied by Western blotting using polyclonal antibodies raised against calcyclin purified from chicken gizzard. The protein was found in gizzard muscle and in a lesser amount in skeletal and cardiac muscle. No immunological reaction was observed in chicken liver. Immunohistochemical studies of chicken gizzard tissue revealed the presence of calcyclin only in muscle fibers. Ca(2+)-dependent interaction of chicken gizzard calcyclin with potential protein targets was also examined. By gel overlay method it was found that calcyclin bound to three proteins with molecular masses of approximately 35 kDa, 25 kDa and 15 kDa present in the cytosolic fraction derived from chicken gizzard muscle. The chicken gizzard calcyclin was also shown to interact with lysozyme.     

HLA class I and class II of the Nivkhi, an indigenous population carrying HTLV-I in Sakhalin, Far Eastern Russia

The Nivkhi are a native people isolated in the Nogliki region of Sakhalin, Far East Russia, where our group recently recognized human T-cell lymphoma virus type I (HTLV-I) infection. In order to trace the Nivkhi's ethnic background and the HTLV-I carriers, we investigated HLA class I and II allele types of 53 Nivkhi (including four HTLV-I carriers). Major HLA class I alleles of the Nivkhi were A*24, A*02, B*40, B*48, B*27, B*35 with allele frequencies similar to the Orochon, a native people isolated in Northeast China. Major Nivkhi class II alleles were DRB1*0901, DRB1*1401, DRB1*1201, DRB1*1106 with allele frequencies similar to the Ainu in Hokkaido, Japan, but dissimilar to other Asian Mongoloids, including the general Japanese population. The same HLA class I and II allele frequencies are found in both Nivkhi HTLV-I carriers and the background population. A dendrogram of HLA class I alleles showed that the Nivkhi were closely related to the Orochon and Yakut, and remotely related to the Japanese, Ainu and other Asian Mongoloids. Interestingly, the Nivkhi were intermediately related to the Amerindians (Inuit, Tlingit and Andeans), a relationship closer than to the Japanese and Asian Mongoloids. These results suggested the Nivkhi might be related to some genetic group of Northeast Asian Mongoloids like the Orochon and Yakut, being infected with HTLV-I in the distant past before diverging into the current major Mongoloid ethnic groups.     

Electric shock hazard studies of high expansion foams

Will high expansion foam conduct enough electric current to create a shock hazard? And if so, what characteristics affect the foam's conductivity?     

Sequencing of the alpha-synuclein gene in a large series of cases of familial Parkinson''s disease fails to reveal any further mutations. The European Consortium on Genetic Susceptibility in Parkinson''s Disease (GSPD)

PURPOSE: Tumor hypoxia may be an important factor predicting relapse following radiation therapy. This study was designed to determine the relationship between the oxygenation parameters measured using a polarographic oxygen electrode, prior to and during treatment in patients with cervix cancer, and to assess these results with regard to patient survival. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-three patients had pretreatment oxygen assays performed and measurements repeated following external beam radiation to a median dose of 50 Gy (range 26-52 Gy). Stage distribution showed 15 patients in Stage IB, 17 in Stage II, and 11 in Stage III. The median tumor size was 5 cm (range 3-10 cm). RESULTS: The median proportion of pO2 values <5 mm Hg (the HP5) was 41% following radiation, and the median pO2 was 12 mm Hg. These results were not significantly different from the pretreatment HP5 or pO2 of 37% and 12 mm Hg, respectively. Disease-free survival at 2 years was 50% in patients with posttreatment HP5 < or =50%, compared to 60% when posttreatment HP5 was >50% (p = 0.35). CONCLUSIONS: Unlike pretreatment results, tumour oxygenation measured following external radiation does not appear to be a useful predictive assay in patients with cervical cancer.     

Spread of spinal anaesthesia for caesarean section in singleton and twin pregnancies

We have compared the spread of spinal anaesthesia in parturients with singleton and those with twin pregnancies. Fifty-five unpremedicated patients with uncomplicated pregnancy scheduled for Caesarean section were allocated to two groups: group I = 35 singleton mothers; group II = 20 with twin pregnancy. Both groups received spinal anaesthesia with hyperbaric bupivacaine 10 mg (2 ml of 0.5%). Mean birthweight was 3290 (SD 452) g and 5008 (495) g in groups I and II (combined birthweights), respectively. We found a statistically significant difference in onset and maximal cephalad spread of spinal anaesthesia (group I median T5, range T8-T4; group II T3, range T6-T2). The mechanisms of higher cephalad spread of spinal anaesthesia in parturients may be a decrease in cerebrospinal fluid volume secondary to shunting of blood from the obstructed inferior vena cava to the extradural venous plexus and increased nerve sensitivity to local anaesthetics because of increased concentrations of progesterone. The twin pregnancy group had heavier, larger uteri and greater daily production of progesterone.