TransLighting Group, Inc., A Small Town, Family Business

TransLighting Group, Inc. consists of two companies all centered around the transportation industry. The original company, TransLighting, was started in 1962 by Henry Phillips. Henry was an engineer with Ford Motor Company specializing in braking wiring systems. Over an eight-year period, he designed and patented several wiring and harness systems that are used in cars as of the 2006 model year. Back in the 1950s Henry had the opportunity to learn about and use LED technology. He even came up with a process using this technology to increase brake light visibility (i.e., the third or middle brake light on most cars). In June 1961 over dinner with another engineering buddy, Bill Acken, Bill figured that they could use this same technology to display roadside messages for motorists. Following license approval from Ford, Bill and Henry started TransLighting in White Lake, Michigan

The relationship between magnetic and electrophysiological responses to complex tactile stimuli

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Magnetoencephalography (MEG) has become an increasingly popular technique for non-invasively characterizing neuromagnetic field changes in the brain at a high temporal resolution. To examine the reliability of the MEG signal, we compared magnetic and electrophysiological responses to complex natural stimuli from the same animals. We examined changes in neuromagnetic fields, local field potentials (LFP) and multi-unit activity (MUA) in macaque monkey primary somatosensory cortex that were induced by varying the rate of mechanical stimulation. Stimuli were applied to the fingertips with three inter-stimulus intervals (ISIs): 0.33s, 1s and 2s.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Signal intensity was inversely related to the rate of stimulation, but to different degrees for each measurement method. The decrease in response at higher stimulation rates was significantly greater for MUA than LFP and MEG data, while no significant difference was observed between LFP and MEG recordings. Furthermore, response latency was the shortest for MUA and the longest for MEG data.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The MEG signal is an accurate representation of electrophysiological responses to complex natural stimuli. Further, the intensity and latency of the MEG signal were better correlated with the LFP than MUA data suggesting that the MEG signal reflects primarily synaptic currents rather than spiking activity. These differences in latency could be attributed to differences in the extent of spatial summation and/or differential laminar sensitivity.</p

Role of Position 627 of PB2 and the Multibasic Cleavage Site of the Hemagglutinin in the Virulence of H5N1 Avian Influenza Virus in Chickens and Ducks

Highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza viruses have caused major disease outbreaks in domestic and free-living birds with transmission to humans resulting in 59% mortality amongst 564 cases. The mutation of the amino acid at position 627 of the viral polymerase basic-2 protein (PB2) from glutamic acid (E) in avian isolates to lysine (K) in human isolates is frequently found, but it is not known if this change affects the fitness and pathogenicity of the virus in birds. We show here that horizontal transmission of A/Vietnam/1203/2004 H5N1 (VN/1203) virus in chickens and ducks was not affected by the change of K to E at PB2-627. All chickens died between 21 to 48 hours post infection (pi), while 70% of the ducks survived infection. Virus replication was detected in chickens within 12 hours pi and reached peak titers in spleen, lung and brain between 18 to 24 hours for both viruses. Viral antigen in chickens was predominantly in the endothelium, while in ducks it was present in multiple cell types, including neurons, myocardium, skeletal muscle and connective tissues. Virus replicated to a high titer in chicken thrombocytes and caused upregulation of TLR3 and several cell adhesion molecules, which may explain the rapid virus dissemination and location of viral antigen in endothelium. Virus replication in ducks reached peak values between 2 and 4 days pi in spleen, lung and brain tissues and in contrast to infection in chickens, thrombocytes were not involved. In addition, infection of chickens with low pathogenic VN/1203 caused neuropathology, with E at position PB2-627 causing significantly higher infection rates than K, indicating that it enhances virulence in chickens

Idarubicin dose escalation during consolidation therapy for adult acute myeloid leukemia

Purpose Higher doses of the anthracycline daunorubicin during induction therapy for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) have been shown to improve remission rates and survival. We hypothesized that improvements in outcomes in adult AML may be further achieved by increased anthracycline dose during consolidation therapy. Patients and Methods Patients with AML in complete remission after induction therapy were randomly assigned to receive two cycles of consolidation therapy with cytarabine 100 mg/m daily for 5 days, etoposide 75 mg/m daily for 5 days, and idarubicin 9 mg/m daily for either 2 or 3 days (standard and intensive arms, respectively). The primary end point was leukemia-free survival (LFS). Results Two hundred ninety-three patients 16 to 60 years of age, excluding those with core binding factor AML and acute promyelocytic leukemia, were randomly assigned to treatment groups (146 to the standard arm and 147 to the intensive arm). Both groups were balanced for age, karyotypic risk, and FLT3–internal tandem duplication and NPM1 gene mutations. One hundred twenty patients in the standard arm (82%) and 95 patients in the intensive arm (65%) completed planned consolidation (P, .001). Durations of severe neutropenia and thrombocytopenia were prolonged in the intensive arm, but there were no differences in serious nonhematological toxicities. With a median follow-up of 5.3 years (range, 0.6 to 9.9 years), there was a statistically significant improvement in LFS in the intensive arm compared with the standard arm (3-year LFS, 47% [95% CI, 40% to 56%] v 35% [95% CI, 28% to 44%]; P = .045). At 5 years, the overall survival rate was 57% in the intensive arm and 47% in the standard arm (P = .092). There was no evidence of selective benefit of intensive consolidation within the cytogenetic or FLT3–internal tandem duplication and NPM1 gene mutation subgroups. Conclusion An increased cumulative dose of idarubicin during consolidation therapy for adult AML resulted in improved LFS, without increased nonhematologic toxicity

The relationship between magnetic and electrophysiological responses to complex tactile stimuli.

BackgroundMagnetoencephalography (MEG) has become an increasingly popular technique for non-invasively characterizing neuromagnetic field changes in the brain at a high temporal resolution. To examine the reliability of the MEG signal, we compared magnetic and electrophysiological responses to complex natural stimuli from the same animals. We examined changes in neuromagnetic fields, local field potentials (LFP) and multi-unit activity (MUA) in macaque monkey primary somatosensory cortex that were induced by varying the rate of mechanical stimulation. Stimuli were applied to the fingertips with three inter-stimulus intervals (ISIs): 0.33s, 1s and 2s.ResultsSignal intensity was inversely related to the rate of stimulation, but to different degrees for each measurement method. The decrease in response at higher stimulation rates was significantly greater for MUA than LFP and MEG data, while no significant difference was observed between LFP and MEG recordings. Furthermore, response latency was the shortest for MUA and the longest for MEG data.ConclusionThe MEG signal is an accurate representation of electrophysiological responses to complex natural stimuli. Further, the intensity and latency of the MEG signal were better correlated with the LFP than MUA data suggesting that the MEG signal reflects primarily synaptic currents rather than spiking activity. These differences in latency could be attributed to differences in the extent of spatial summation and/or differential laminar sensitivity

Presence of viral antigen in ducks infected with HP VN/1203/K and HP VN/1203/E virus.

A<p>The ducks with an asterix are obtained from the experiment described in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0030960#pone-0030960-t002" target="_blank">Table 2</a>. The ducks without an asterix are from the pathogenesis experiment.</p>B<p>The days pi reflect the mean time to death for the ducks with asterix or the time of euthanasia.</p>C<p>Number of samples positive for virus antigen as measured by immunohistochemistry. Scoring system: 1 = Antigen sparse, 2 = Antigen common, 3 = Antigen abundant.</p>D<p>Only 5 samples available.</p

Virus antigen expression in tissues of infected chickens.

<p>Chickens were infected with HP VN/1203/E (A, C, E) and LP VN/1203/E (B, D, F). Tissues were taken at 18–36 hours pi from HP infected birds and at 5–13 days pi from LP infected birds. Sections were prepared from brain (A, B), skin from the comb (B, C) and heart (E, F) and stained for the presence of viral antigen. A. Brain, showing high levels of antigen in capillaries (arrows) and in occasional neurons. B. Brain, 13 days pi, showing antigen in neurons within a focus of glial proliferation. C. Skin of comb, showing antigen in capillaries (arrows) and surrounding connective tissue within the dermis. D. Skin of comb, 13 days pi, showing viral antigen in the stratum granulosum. E. Heart, showing antigen predominantly in capillaries (arrows) and in the myocardium (indicated by arrow heads). F. Heart, 5 days pi, showing viral antigen in a single myocardial fiber. All scale bars are 100 µm.</p

Two-fold or more upregulated selected genes in thrombocytes 18 hours pi of chickens with HP VN/1203/K and HP VN/1203/E relative to uninfected controls.

<p>Two-fold or more upregulated selected genes in thrombocytes 18 hours pi of chickens with HP VN/1203/K and HP VN/1203/E relative to uninfected controls.</p

Virus isolation from tissues of infected chickens.

<p>Virus titers in thrombocytes, spleen, lung and brain samples, and from oropharyngeal (oral) and cloacal (cloaca) swabs collected from chickens infected with HP VN/1203/E and HP VN/1203/K at 12, 18 and 21 or 24 hours pi. All titrations were performed in Vero cells. Data show mean and SEM of 5–7 birds per time point for each virus.</p

Clinical, pathological and virological responses in chickens inoculated with LP VN/1203/K or LP VN/1203/E and monitored for 14 days pi^A.

A<p>Birds were euthanized at 14 days pi unless otherwise noted.</p>B<p>IHC = Immunohistochemistry. Positive samples had sparse antigen in the different organs ( = score of 1).</p>C<p>Values within a column with a different superscript minor case letter are significantly different at p<0.05 (two-tailed Fisher's exact test).</p>D<p>Three of the six birds infected with LP VN/1203/E developed ataxia and torticollis and were euthanased, one at 8 days pi and two at 13 days pi.</p