An Early Work on Palindromes

Books dedicated expensively to the subject of palindromes are very rare. One in great demand is the book Palindromes by G. R. Clarke (Glasgow, David Bryce & Son, 1887). Some years ago, Dmitri Borgmann told me in a letter that his firm. Research Unlimited, had not been able to find a copy of the book, and he doubted that it ever really existed

Oh, Cello Full of Echoes

Editor\u27s Note: Readers may recall Herbert Pfeiffer\u27s palindromic poem, Plaudere, du Alp! reputedly the longest palindrome in German, printed with a partial translation in May 1985 Word Ways

Plaudere, Du Alp!

Herbert Pfeiffer is the only currently-active palindromist in West Germany. The following, first published in Neue Texte (an Austrian journal for poetry) in 1983, is believed to be the longest German palindrome ever written. Readers familiar with long English-language palindromes know that they make local sense but shift subject in erratic and unpredictable ways; so it is with Talk, Nightmare! . The literal translation utterly destroys the spirit of the German original, becoming mere gibberish. I have attempted a free translation of the beginning and end which, I think, conveys the author\u27s desolate message if not his exact words

An Anomalous Near-Bottom Cross-Shelf Intrusion of Slope Water on the Southern New England Continental Shelf

Hydrographic surveys and moored observations in Rhode Island Sound (RIS) in water depths of 30–50 m, off the southern New England coast, revealed a near-bottom intrusion of anomalously warm and saline water in late fall 2009. The properties of this water mass, with peak salinity of nearly 35, are typical of slope water that is normally found offshore of the shelfbreak front, located approximately 100 km to the south. The slope water intrusion, with a horizontal spatial scale of about 45 km, appears to have been brought onto the outer shelf during the interaction of a Gulf Stream warm core ring with the shelfbreak east (upshelf) of RIS. The along-shelf transport rate of the intrusion can be explained as due to advection by the mean outer-shelf along-isobath current, although the transit time of the intrusion is also consistent with the self-advection of a dense bolus on a sloping shelf. The mechanism responsible for the large onshore movement of the intrusion from the outer shelf is not entirely clear, although a wind-driven upwelling circulation appeared to be responsible for its final movement into the RIS region. Depth-averaged salinity at all RIS mooring sites increased by 0.5–1 over the 3–4 week intrusion period suggesting that the intrusion mixed irreversibly, at least partially, with the ambient shelf water. The mixing of the salty intrusion over the shelf indicates that net cross-isobath fluxes of salt and other water properties have occurred

Theory of donor-bound multi-exciton complexes in Germanium

We report calculations of ground and excited state energies for multi- exciton complexes bound to phosphorus, arsenic, and bismuth donors in germanium. Band structure effects are included in a self consistent density functional calculation. Theoretical recombination spectra derived from our results agree very well with existing data. The results imply the existence of a kinetic bottleneck to the growth of large complexes.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/24240/1/0000503.pd

Ground state energy of small electron-hole drops

The ground state energy of small electron-hole drops is calculated for droplets ranging in size from 10 to 10,000 pairs. A new value for the bending energy of 1.1 x 10-10 erg/cm is derived. We also give a simple highly accurate formula for the total energy per pair. The surface energy is extracted from the total energy and found to agree well with a previous self-consistent calculation. The density at the center of the drop remains essentially constant over the entire range of N, indicating that the drop is not dramatically compressed by the surface tension.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/23730/1/0000702.pd

Folate status assessment history: implications for measurement of biomarkers in NHANES12345

This article presents a historical perspective on the different methods used to measure folate status in populations and clinical settings. I discuss some of the advantages and limitations of these procedures. For >50 y researchers have used microbiological assay methods to assess folate status in clinical settings and in population-based studies, such as NHANES. Serum and red blood cell folate values obtained with the Lactobacillus casei assay have formed the basis for current ranges and cutoffs for the establishment of folate sufficiency and for the current dietary reference intakes for folate. Over the past 30 y competitive folate protein binding assays, which are available in kit form, have supplanted microbiological assays in many clinical laboratories because of their ease of use. Several NHANES cycles have used these assays. Folate concentrations obtained with these kits are lower than those from microbiological assays and show a wide variation between different protein binding assay kits. This variation has complicated the setting of values for normal ranges of folate status and the comparison of status changes between different NHANES cycles. The recent development of mass spectrometry methods for folate opens up the possibility of measurement of individual folate vitamers such as folic acid. Past experience with microbiological and competitive protein binding assays indicates some of the technical problems that research will need to address before this promise becomes reality

Ordering folate assays is no longer justified for investigation of anemias, in folic acid fortified countries

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Since 1998, in the countries where there is mandatory fortification of grain products with folic acid, folate deficiency has become very rare. Consequently, we decided to find out whether there is any justification for ordering folate assays for investigation of anemias.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We reviewed serum folate (SF) and red cell folate (RF) data at two teaching hospitals in Canada. At the Health Sciences Centre (HSC) the folate data for the year 2001 were analyzed and the medical records of those with low SF or low RF were reviewed. At St. Boniface General Hospital(SBGH)all folate data between January 1996 and Dec 31,2004 were analyzed and the medical records of all who had low RF between January 1,1999 and December 31,2004 were reviewed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In 2001, at HSC, 11 out of 2154(0.5%)SF were low(<7.0 nmol/L) and 4 out of 560 (0.7%) RF were low (<417 nmol/L). In no subject with low SF or RF could the anemia be attributed to folate deficiency. At SBGH during the 3-year-period of 1999-2001, 19 out of 991(1.9%) had low RF (<225 nmol/L) but in only 2 patients (0.2%) the low RF was in folate deficiency anemia range; but neither of them had anemia.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In countries where there is mandatory fortification of grain products with folic acid, folate deficiency to the degree that could cause anemia is extremely rare. Ordering folate assays for investigation of anemias, in these countries, is waste of time and money. The result of these tests is more likely to mislead the physicians than to provide any useful information.</p

Dynamics of wind-driven estuarine-shelf exchange in the Narragansett Bay estuary

Physical exchange between estuarine and continental shelf waters impacts flushing dynamics of the estuary and determines rates of ocean inputs of nutrients and plankton. To investigate the occurrence and propagation of shelf water intrusions into the Narragansett Bay estuary, we collected velocity data near the estuarine–shelf interface during three summer periods. These data were compared to environmental forcing factors, including wind velocity, tidal mixing and river discharge. Results suggest a background cyclonic flow within the two passages of the estuary based on mean inflow in the channel on the eastern side of the estuary and mean outflow on the western shoals. Within the lower estuary this background circulation was perturbed by channel-parallel winds. On the shelf outside of the estuary, winds parallel to the coast were associated with cross-shelf flow of deep water. Strong pulses in estuarine– shelf exchange flow fell into two wind-driven modes: responses to direct forcing by downestuary wind or rebounds following relaxation or reversal of up-estuary wind. Rebound events were common, providing the most dramatic perturbations to the mean background estuarine circulation. A reduction in exchange between Narragansett Bay and shelf waters during prevailing up-estuary winds in the summertime and short-lived pulses in exchange flow under wind reversal events are expected to affect nutrient fluxes and dynamics of hypoxia in the estuary.Keywords: Estuarine circulation, Inner shelf circulation, Hypoxia, Wind-driven currents, Southern New England shelf, Partially mixed estuar

Evaluating Depressive Symptoms in Schizophrenia: A Psychometric Comparison of the Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia and the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale

Background: The aim of this study was to compare two measures of depression in patients with schizophrenia and schizophrenia spectrum disorder, including patients with delusional and schizoaffective disorder, to conclude implications for their application. Sampling and Methods: A total of 278 patients were assessed using the Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia (CDSS) and the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD-17). The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) was also applied. At admission and discharge, a principal component analysis was performed with each depression scale. The two depression rating scales were furthermore compared using correlation and regression analyses. Results: Three factors were revealed for the CDSS and HAMD-17 factor component analysis. A very similar item loading was found for the CDSS at admission and discharge, whereas results of the loadings of the HAMD-17 items were less stable. The first two factors of the CDSS revealed correlations with positive, negative and general psychopathology. In contrast, multiple significant correlations were found for the HAMD-17 factors and the PANSS sub-scores. Multiple regression analyses demonstrated that the HAMD-17 accounted more for the positive and negative symptom domains than the CDSS. Conclusions:The present results suggest that compared to the HAMD-17, the CDSS is a more specific instrument to measure depressive symptoms in schizophrenia and schizophrenia spectrum disorder, especially in acutely ill patients. Copyright (c) 2012 S. Karger AG, Base