Background The complementary graft of choice to the right coronary artery system in patients undergoing left-sided bilateral internal thoracic artery grafting has yet to be determined. Saphenous vein graft (SVG) was compared with right gastroepiploic artery (RGEA) as the supplemental conduit to the right coronary artery when left-sided bilateral internal thoracic artery grafting is implemented.
Osmotic shock is a familiar means for rupturing viral capsids and exposing their genomes intact. The necessary conditions for providing this shock involve incubation in high-concentration salt solutions, and lower permeability of the capsids to salt ions than to water molecules. We discuss here how values of the capsid strength can be inferred from calculations of the osmotic pressure differences associated with measured values of the critical concentration of incubation solution.
The long-term performance of total hip replacement is of concern to veterinary surgeons. Two of the main complications associated with this procedure ore implant loosening and stress shielding. Designs of the femoral stem which will avoid loosening and achieve maximum endurance while reducing stress shielding and periprosthetic bone loss are sought.
In the intact femur the stress is distributed over the entire cross section of the bone. After hip replacement this pattern of stress distribution is altered because of the manner in which the load is transferred from the prosthesis to the bone.
The objective of this study was to examine the stresses that develop in the femur and implant components of two different methods of hip replacement used clinically in dogs. Anatomic, three-dimensional finite element models of the canine femur with a cemented femoral stem and a Zurich cementless stem were constructed. The stresses and displacements were calculated by the finite element analysis method, under physiologic loads that included muscle forces and joint reaction forces. The results were compared to results obtained by a similar analysis of an intact femur. This study demonstrates that the Zurich cementless method causes less stress shielding in the proximal femoral cortex than does the cemented method. Implant stresses are higher in the Zurich cementless stem, but still within an acceptable range.
Direct ink-jet printing of water-insol. org. materials may provide a new route for low-cost fabrication of various products that require fine patterning of functional mols. However, printing by water-based, environmentally friendly inks requires significant research and development efforts aimed at achieving a dispersion of nanoparticles of the specific mol. in water. We demonstrate a concept for direct patterning of water-insol. org. mols. in the form of nanoparticles, which can be easily adapted to a large variety of mols. such as conducting polymers and org. light-emitting diodes. The method is based on formation of a thermodynamically stable oil-in-water microemulsion in which volatile "oil" droplets contain the dissolved org. mols. The microemulsion droplets are converted into org. nanoparticles upon impact with the substrate surface due to evapn. of the volatile solvent. [on SciFinder(R)]
We explored the neural basis of age- and task-related plasticity in circadian patterns of activity in the honeybee. To identify putative circadian pacemakers in the bee brain, we used antibodies against Drosophila melanogaster and Antheraea pernyi PERIOD and an antiserum to crustacean pigment-dispersing hormone (PDH) known to cross-react with insect pigment-dispersing factors (PDFs). In contrast to previous results from Drosophila, PDH and PER immunoreactivity (-ir) were not colocalized in bee neurons. The most intense PER-ir was cytoplasmic, in two groups of large neurons in the protocerebrum. The number of protocerebral PER-ir neurons and PER-ir intensity within individual cells were highest in brains collected during subjective night and higher in old bees than in young bees. These results are consistent with previous analyses of brain per mRNA in honeybees. Nuclear PER-ir was found throughout the brain, including the optic and antennal lobes. A single group of PDH-ir neurons (approximately 20/optic lobe) was consistently and intensely labeled at the medial margin of the medulla, independent of age or time of day. The processes of these neurons extended to specific neuropils in the protocerebrum and the optic lobes but not to the deutocerebrum. The patterns displayed by PER- and PDH-ir do not completely match any patterns previously described. This suggests that, although clock proteins are conserved across insect groups, there is no universal pattern of coexpression that allows ready identification of pacemaker neurons within the insect brain. J. Comp. Neurol. (C) 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
We report the production in the gas phase of ionically bound HXeI molecules. The molecules are generated by the photodissociation of HI molecules in large Xe-n clusters and are identified from the asymmetry of the detected H atom fragments arising from the dissociation of oriented HXeI. The orientation, resulting from a synergistic action of a pulsed laser field with a weak electrostatic field, is quite pronounced, due to a large ratio of the polarizability anisotropy to the rotational constant of HXeI. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.
To provide photostabilization for entomopathogenic fungi by anionic dyes, composite matrixes based on clay-biopolymer combinations were prepd. In the first step, the neg. surface charge of various clays (montmorillonite, attapulgite, bentonite and kaolinite) was reversed to pos. by adsorption to the polycationic biopolymer chitosan. The second step involved adsorption of the toxicol. safe anionic dyes fast green (FG) and naphthol yellow S (NYS) to the clay complexes. Compared with cytotoxic photoprotectants like berberine, palmatine and acriflavine, the anionic dyes have no adverse effects up to a concn. of 1 M. In assays using various clay-chitosan-dye matrixes and UV irradn. from a lamp source, it was evident that both FG and NYS provided considerable photostabilization for conidia of the entomopathogenic fungus Aschersonia spp. that served as a model biocontrol agent. Because of the light-dispersing property, bentonite and attapulgite per se provided significant photoprotection. All clay matrixes contg. FG provided a substantial photostabilization effect. [on SciFinder(R)]
We describe a possible physical device that computes a function that cannot be computed by a Turing machine. The device is physical in the sense that it is compatible with General Relativity. We discuss some objections, focusing on those which deny that the device is either a computer or computes a function that is not Turing computable. Finally, we argue that the existence of the device does not refute the Church-Turing thesis, but nevertheless may be a counterexample to Gandy’s thesis.
A new approach is presented for fabricating monolithic crystalline silicon tilting-mirror microoptoelectromechanical systems (MOEMS) devices. The activation electrodes, etched from a thick silicon layer deposited over insulating oxide onto the top surface of a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer, are displaced from the mirrors and interact with these tilting elements via electrostatic fringing fields. In contrast to the more usual parallel-plate activation, the rotation angle saturates at high voltages. This paper discusses concept, design, and processing, and also compares modeling and measured performance of a specific 9 tilt range device array.
This paper develops a political economy model that is consistent with the fact that democracies have a preference for increasing marginal tax rates on income. We present a model in which there is an exogenous set of political parties with preferences over the set of admissible tax schedules. This set contains virtually any increasing and piecewise linear continuous function. Each party decides whether or not to present a candidate for election. There is a fixed cost of running. The elected candidate implements one of her preferred tax policies. Our main results provide conditions under which a Strong Nash Equilibrium exists, and a tax schedule with increasing marginal tax rates is implemented in some Nash Equilibria and in any Strong Nash Equilibrium.
Stabilized total nutrient admixt. (TNA) compns., useful for the in vivo parenteral delivery of pharmacol. acceptable lipids or fats, as well as methods for their prepn. are described. In particular, the pharmacol. acceptable lipid or fat is contained within a biocompatible polymer, e.g., a protein, walled shell. In a particular embodiment of the invention, a TNA compn. using human serum albumin (HSA) as a stabilizer has been prepd. as a convenient three-in-one formulation (i.e., contg. a fat emulsion, dextrose, and amino acids plus electrolytes). This "three-in-one" formulation can be prepd. in liq. form or in dry form (comprising submicron-sized nanoparticles). The dried material is stable, even under long term storage, and is easily reconstituted immediately before use by simply adding sterile water (with or without vitamin supplementation). This serves to rehydrate the powder into a TNA suitable for injection. The long shelf life, ease of reconstitution, and single-component injectability of invention compns. provide significant cost savings, as such compns. can be reconstituted and administered safely, even at home. In addn., HSA, the stabilizing agent of choice for use in the practice of the present invention, has been shown to improve survival and wellness when given as a supplement to patients receiving conventional forms of total nutrient admixts. [on SciFinder(R)]
Privatization has been a key component of structural reform programs in both developed and developing economies. The aim of such programs is to achieve higher microeconomic efficiency and foster economic growth, as well as reduce public sector borrowing requirements through the elimination of unnecessary subsidies. Microeconomic theory tells us that incentive and contracting problems create inefficiencies due to public ownership, given that managers of state-owned enterprises pursue objectives that differ from those of private firms (political view) and face less monitoring (management view). Not only are the managers' objectives distorted, but the budget constraints they face are also softened. The [...]
Privatization has been a key component of structural reform programs in both developed and developing economies. The aim of such programs is to achieve higher microeconomic efficiency and foster economic growth, as well as reduce public sector borrowing requirements through the elimination of unnecessary subsidies. Microeconomic theory tells us that incentive and contracting problems create inefficiencies due to public ownership, given that managers of state-owned enterprises pursue objectives that differ from those of private firms (political view) and face less monitoring (management view). Not only are the managers' objectives distorted, but the budget constraints they face are also softened. The soft-budget constraint emerges from the fact that bankruptcy is not a credible threat to public managers, for it is in the central government's own interest to bail them out in case of financial distress. Empirical evidence shows a robust corroboration of theoretical implications: privatiz
Joseph Yellin and Jane M.Cahill. 2003. “Provenience of the LMLK-Stamped Seal Impressions.” In Jewish Quarter Excavations in the Old City of Jerusalem, Volume II: The Finds from Area A, W and X-2, edited by Hillel Geva, Pp. 107-112. Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society and Institute of Archaeology.
Joseph Yellin and Jane M.Cahill. 2003. “Provenience of the Rosette-Stamped Seal Impressions from the Jewish Quarter.” In Jewish Quarter Excavations in the Old City of Jerusalem, Volume II: The Finds from Area A, W and X-2, edited by Hillel Geva, Pp. 99-106. Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society and Institute of Archaeology.
Abraham Neyman and JF Mertens. 2003. “A value on `AN.” International Journal of Game Theory, Pp. 109-120. Abstract
We prove here the existence of a value (of norm 1) on the spaces 'NA and even 'AN, the closure in the variation distance of the linear space spanned by all games f°µ, where µ is a non-atomic, non-negative finitely additive measure of mass 1 and f a real-valued function on [0,1] which satisfies a much weaker continuity at zero and one.
