Interleukin-12 (IL-12) enhances lysis of non-lymphoid leukemia cell lines in vitro

IL-2 augments the ability of natural killer (NK) cells to kill myeloid leukemia cells in vitro, and may have a role in the eradication of minimal residual disease (MRD) in AML patients. The ability to enhance lysis of AML cells without the toxicity of IL-2 would be a significant improvement in the use of biologics against AML. Recent interest in IL-12 suggested that this cytokine might meet these criteria. The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of IL-12 to enhance the in vitro lysis of the non-lymphoid leukemia cell lines in a standard 51Chromium release assay. Effector cells from normal volunteers were incubated with varying concentrations of IL-12 or IL-2 for 18-20 h, then the 51Cr-labeled target cells from five different cell lines of AML origin were added for 4 h. Percent lysis was determined and plotted over four effector:target (E:T) ratios. Our results indicated that IL-12 was able to enhance lysis of all cell lines tested at > or =5 units/ml. When IL-2 was added to the culture at a low dose along with IL-12, there appeared to be a synergistic effect. Although anti-gamma interferon was able to inhibit the cytolytic potential of effectors activated by IL-12, the lysis could not be completely blocked. Thus, it appears that IL-12 has the ability to stimulate NK lysis indirectly through the induction of gamma interferon as well as an alternate mechanism not related to gamma interferon. Thus, IL-12 may have a beneficial role in the treatment of non-lymphoid leukemia.     

Process and strategy in memory for speech among younger and older adults.

Younger and older adults listened to and immediately recalled short passages of speech that varied in the rate of presentation and in the degree of linguistic and prosodic cuing. Although older adults showed a differential decrease in recall performance as a function of increasing speech rate, age differences in recall were reduced by the presence of linguistic and prosodic cues. Under conditions of optimum linguistic redundancy, older adults were also found to add more words and to make more meaning-producing reconstructions in recall. Differences in overall performance are accounted for in terms of age-related changes in working memory processing and strategy utilization. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The physical and electrical effects of metal-fill patterningpractices for oxide chemical-mechanical polishing processes

In oxide chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) processes, layout pattern dependent variation in the interlevel dielectric (ILD) thickness can reduce yield and impact circuit performance. Metal-fill patterning practices have emerged as a technique for substantially reducing layout pattern dependent ILD thickness variation. We present a generalizable methodology for selecting an optimal metal-fill patterning practice with the goal of satisfying a given dielectric thickness variation specification while minimizing the added interconnect capacitance associated with metal-fill patterning. Data from two industrial-based experiments demonstrate the beneficial impact of metal-fill on dielectric thickness variation, a 20% improvement in uniformity in one case and a 60% improvement in the other case, and illustrate that pattern density is the key mechanism involved. The pros and cons of two different metal-fill patterning practices-grounded versus floating metal-are explored. Criteria for minimizing the effect of floating or grounded metal-fill patterns on delay or crosstalk parameters are also developed based on canonical metal-fill structures. Finally, this methodology is illustrated using a case study which demonstrates an 82% reduction in ILD thickness variation     

Alzheimer's Rural Care Healthline: Linking Rural Caregivers to Cognitive-Behavioral Intervention for Depression.

Objective: To describe the challenges faced by rural caregivers in providing assistance to older family members with Alzheimer's disease and closely related conditions. Procedure: Preliminary focus group findings from a new grant initiative, Alzheimer's Rural Care Healthline, that assesses the efficacy of telephone-based cognitive- behavioral intervention for rural dementia caregivers. Groups identified specific caregiver educational and skills-training requirements and best methods for soliciting referrals from rural health providers, community elder care agencies, and churches. Results: Trust emerged as an overarching theme, along with family and community privacy issues and the stigma associated with dementia. Conclusions: Future studies should consider the educational priorities, technological requirements, and sociocultural context of rural caregivers in designing telehealth-based interventions, including issues of privacy, stigma, and trust. Recognition of these factors may lead to increased acceptability, frequency of use, and sustainability of rural telehealth programs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Validating Reference Gene Expression Stability in Human Ovarian Follicles,Oocytes, Cumulus Cells,Ovarian Medulla,and Ovarian Cortex Tissue

Human ovarian cells are phenotypically very different and are often only available in limited amounts. Despite the fact that reference gene (RG) expression stability has been validated in oocytes and other ovarian cells from several animal species, the suitability of a single universal RG in the different human ovarian cells and tissues has not been determined. The present study aimed to validate the expression stability of five of the most used RGs in human oocytes, cumulus cells, preantral follicles, ovarian medulla, and ovarian cortex tissue. The selected genes were glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), beta-2-microglobulin (B2M), large ribosomal protein P0 (RPLP0), beta-actin (ACTB), and peptidylprolyl isomerase A (PPIA). Overall, the stability of all RGs differed among ovarian cell types and tissues. NormFinder identified ACTB as the best RG for oocytes and cumulus cells, and B2M for medulla tissue and isolated follicles. The combination of two RGs only marginally increased the stability, indicating that using a single validated RG would be sufficient when the available testing material is limited. For the ovarian cortex, depending on culture conditions, GAPDH or ACTB were found to be the most stable genes. Our results highlight the importance of assessing RGs for each cell type or tissue when performing RT-qPCR analysis.     

Rapid speech processing and divided attention: Processing rate versus processing resources as an explanation of age effects.

Conducted a dual-task study to examine age differences in speech processing under varying loads. Younger and older adults listened to and immediately recalled spoken passages presented at various speech rates (140–280 words per min). This task was performed alone as well as in a divided-attention condition in which Ss concurrently performed a picture recognition task. Consistent with the slowing hypothesis, older adults' immediate memory performance was differentially depressed when speech rates were very fast. The Age?×?Speech Rate interaction, however, was not exacerbated in the divided-attention condition. This suggests that aging may reduce the rate at which the processing operations underlying memory for speech are completed, but this is conceptually distinct from an age-related reduction in attentional capacity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Improving Energy Efficiency of Centrally Controlled Wireless Data Networks

Wireless network access protocols can assist nodes to conserve energy by identifying when they can enter low energy states. The goal is to put all nodes not involved in a transmission into the doze state. However, in doing so, one must tradeoff the energy and other costs associated with the overhead of coordinating dozing with the energy savings of putting nodes to sleep. In this paper, we define three alternative directory protocols that may be used by a central node to coordinate the transmission of data and the dozing of nodes. We attempt to optimize their performance by using scheduling and protocol parameter tuning. In addition, we consider the impact of errors and error recovery methods on energy consumption. Although one can argue that carefully scheduling transmissions will improve performance, ultimately, appropriately tuning protocols reduces scheduling's significance. In most cases, scheduling transmissions between the same nodes contiguously and ordering such transmissions shortest processing time first results in good performance. The most critical feature that contributes to an access protocol's effectiveness is its ability to minimize the time it takes to inform nodes that they may doze. However, the ability of our protocols to conserve energy is highly dependent on (1) network size, (2) traffic type (e.g., down/uplink, and peer-to-peer) and (3) channel bit error rate. In particular, we show that when protocols are faced with packet errors, more elaborate schemes to coordinate the dozing of nodes can pay-off. We conclude by recommending an energy conserving implementation of the IEEE 802.11 Point Coordination Function.     

Why are ISDN standards important?

The advantages offered by the integrated services digital network (ISDN) to US Department of Defense (DoD) communications in terms of interoperability provides a framework for a discussion of ISDN standards. The standards organizations working on ISDN and network protocol standards are described, and their relationship to each other is delineated. The status of the standards being developed is discussed, and those that would be of special interest to the US DoD are examined     

Effect of relative humidity on preharvest survival of bacterial and viral pathogens on the surface of cantaloupe, lettuce, and bell peppers

The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of humidity on the preharvest survival of microbial pathogens on cantaloupe, lettuce, and bell peppers. An additional goal was to evaluate Clostridium perfringens as an indicator of fecal contamination on produce. The microorganisms used in this study included Escherichia coli, E. coli O157:H7, Shigella sonnei, Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica, Clostridium perfringens, hepatitis A virus (HAV), feline calicivirus (FCV), and coliphage PRD1. The study took place in a controlled environment chamber that allowed for the control of temperature (18 to 26 degrees C) and relative humidity. Survival rates under high (mean, 85.7 to 90.3%) and low (mean, 45.1 to 48.4%) relative humidity were compared. The surfaces of the edible portion of each plant were inoculated with the study microorganisms. Samples were collected throughout 2 weeks. More microorganisms survived significantly longer (P < 0.05) on cantaloupe than on lettuce and bell peppers. The type of produce on which each organism experienced the highest inactivation rate tended to change with relative humidity. The survival of microorganisms on produce surfaces was not uniformly affected by relative humidity. Of the studied microorganisms, HAV, PRD1, and C. perfringens were found to have the lowest inactivation rates, whereas FCV and E. coli ATCC 25922 tended to become inactivated most rapidly. C. perfringens generally survived longer than all other bacteria and FCV in all experiments. This trend suggests that C. perfringens may be an acceptable indicator of bacterial contamination and survival in various environments and on different types of crops.