Using humorous programs as a vehicle for humorous commercials

Many programs and commercials use humor to entertain and persuade viewers. This research examines the effect of levels of humor in program context on commercials and the perceptions of the products they advertise. Effects of humor levels in the commercials themselves are examined, as are effects of gender on perception of humor and product image. Increased program humor was detrimental to recall of products advertised. Gender, however, interacted with program humor levels. Products were viewed less negatively by men when they were exposed to commercials in a more humorous program context. The type of humor may explain why this did not hold for women because humor of a crass or sexual nature holds lower appeal for females. An increased level of commercial humor was found to be beneficial to recall and purchase intention.     

A 610-mW zero-overhead class-G full-rate ADSL CO line driver

With the drive to increase the number of ports that can be incorporated onto a single linecard in an ADSL Central Office (CO), and the consequent power consumption and thermal management issues that this increased density raises, power dissipation is a key parameter in the design of an ADSL modem. This paper presents a full-rate ADSL CO line driver, consuming 610 mW through active termination and a zero-overhead class-G technique. The supply switching scheme used features very low overhead voltage, logic control, and controlled supply rail ramp rate, and requires analog signal peak prediction be done on the digital data stream. The process used features dielectrically isolated silicon-on-insulator 0.7-/spl mu/m complementary BiCMOS with thin-film resistors. The MOSFET class-G transistors operate in two modes for power efficiency and distortion control. The power consumption is 610 mW and the downstream missing tone power ratio is 69 dBC with 16-dB peak-to-average ratio support.     

The stimulation of cell proliferation by quercetin is mediated by the estrogen receptor

Quercetin causes biphasic modulation of the proliferation of specific colon and mammary cancer cells. In this study, the possible involvement of the estrogen receptor (ER) in the stimulation of cell proliferation by quercetin was investigated. For this purpose, the effect of quercetin on cell proliferation was tested in ER-positive MCF-7 and T47D cells, and in ER-negative HCC-38 and MDA-MB231 cells. Quercetin stimulated proliferation of ER-positive cells only, suggesting this effect to be ER-dependent. In support of these results, quercetin induced ER-ERE-mediated gene expression in a reporter gene assay using U2-OS cells transfected with either ERalpha or ERbeta, with 10(5)-10(6) times lower affinity than 17beta-estradiol (E2) and 10(2)-10(3 )times lower affinity than genistein. Quercetin activated the ERbeta to a 4.5-fold higher level than E2, whereas the maximum induction level of ERalpha by quercetin was only 1.7 fold that of E2. These results point at the relatively high capacity of quercetin to stimulate supposed 'beneficial' ERbeta responses as compared to the stimulation of ERalpha, the receptor possibly involved in adverse cell proliferative effects. Altogether, the results of this study reveal that physiologically relevant concentrations of quercetin can exert phytoestrogen-like activity similar to that observed for the isoflavonoid genistein.     

Water‐soluble polymers. LXXXIII. Correlation of experimentally determined drag reduction efficiency and extensional viscosity of high molecular weight polymers in dilute aqueous solution

The extensional viscosity for aqueous solutions of high molecular weight poly(acrylamide) copolymers and poly(ethylene oxide) homopolymers was measured using a laboratory‐designed screen extensional rheometer. A Bingham model was developed to estimate the average local polymer coil extensional viscosity (η_coil). A strong correlation was found between the measured η_coil values and the polymer extensional viscosity predicted by a bead‐spring model. The dilute aqueous solution drag reduction was measured with a rotating disk instrument under conditions minimizing the effects of shear degradation. Extensional viscosity and drag reduction measurements were performed in deionized water and in 0.514M sodium chloride. The relative drag reduction efficiency values (Δ) in both solvents were found to strongly correlate with measured η_coil values. This is the first report of the accurate prediction of drag reduction behavior for a wide range of polymer types in various solvents from the independently measured molecular parameters η_coil and [η]C. The often‐used relative drag reduction efficiency expressed as the product of [η]C and Δ can now be replaced by the absolute drag reduction efficiency [η]Cη_coil. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 82: 1222–1231, 2001     

Preservation of the stapedius tendon in laser stapes surgery

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: The stapedius tendon is routinely transected during stapes surgery. The objective of this study was to evaluate the technique of stapedial tendon preservation during stapes surgery and to compare results of these cases with cases where the stapedial tendon was not preserved. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective study. METHODS: Four groups of patients were evaluated. Two groups had undergone stapes surgery with preservation of the stapedial tendon. One of these groups underwent a laser stapedotomy minus prosthesis (laser STAMP) procedure, while the other group had a prosthesis inserted. The other two groups had undergone laser stapedotomy with one of two different prostheses being used. Audiometric data were obtained and reviewed both preoperatively and at approximately 6 weeks postoperatively. RESULTS: All groups had overall successful results demonstrating that stapedial tendon preservation is technically possible and does not compromise outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the results, it is recommended that the stapedius tendon be preserved whenever possible during laser stapes surgery. Reasons justifying its preservation are discussed.     

Design considerations for high-frequency continuous-time filtersand implementation of an antialiasing filter for digital video

An approach that has made possible the integration of video frequency continuous-time filters with wide dynamic range is discussed. The tuning scheme necessary to maintain the stable and accurate frequency response in the presence of temperature variations, process tolerance, and aging is described. Detailed design techniques specific to high-frequency operation are introduced to implement a 5-V, seventh-order elliptic analog magnitude filter for antialiasing in digital video applications. The filter, based on a G_m-C technique, exhibits a dynamic range of 61 dB and dissipates a power of 75 mW. Ninety-two chips from various wafers and two different process runs were tested. Seventy-five percent of the fabricated chips were functional, and 63% of them met the commercial-grade specifications in spite of an error in the layout which forced the phase control circuitry to perform suboptimally     

Oligomerization of expanded-polyglutamine domain fluorescent fusion proteins in cultured mammalian cells

Six inherited neurologic diseases, including Huntington's disease, result from the expansion of a CAG domain of the disease genes to produce a domain of more than 40 glutamines in the expressed protein. The mechanism by which expansion of this polyglutamine domain causes disease is unknown. Recent studies demonstrated oligomerization of polyglutamine-domain proteins in mammalian neurons. To study oligomerization of polyglutamine proteins and to identify heterologous protein interactions, varying length polyglutamine-green fluorescent protein fusion proteins were expressed in cultured COS-7 cells. The 19- and 35-glutamine fusion proteins (non-pathologic length) distributed diffusely throughout the cytoplasm. In contrast, 56- and 80-glutamine fusion proteins (pathologic length) formed fibrillar arrays resembling those previously observed in neurons in Huntington's disease and in a transgenic mouse model. These aggregates were intranuclear and intracytoplasmic. Intracytoplasmic aggregates were surrounded by collapsed intermediate filaments. The intermediate filament protein vimentin co-immunoisolated with expanded polyglutamine fusion proteins. This cellular model will expedite investigations into oligomerization of polyglutamine proteins and their interactions with other proteins.     

Redraping the inferior orbicularis arc

The surgical technique of redraping of the inferior arc of the orbicularis oculi muscle is used primarily to produce lower lid and midfacial smoothing in patients undergoing aesthetic surgery. The midfacial fat compartments, suborbicularis oculi fat and malar fat, are bound to the orbicularis muscle by the superficial muscular aponeurotic system so that redraping the orbicularis muscle also repositions the midface. Orbicularis arc redraping should be accompanied by lateral canthoplasty to ensure stability to the shape of the eyelid fissure postoperatively. Modifications in orbicularis redraping and canthoplasty technique are necessary in patients with prominent eyes and distensible lower lids. Supraplacement of canthal fixation is needed in patients with prominent eyes, and lid shortening is needed in patients who have distensible lower lids. This technique also can be used in patients undergoing reconstructive surgery for correction of lower lid retraction because of its ability to recruit periorbital skin upward into the lower lid. For more severe cases of lower lid retraction after aesthetic surgery, adjunctive procedures such as spacer implants in the lower lid and periosteal flap canthoplasty can be used together with the orbicularis arc redraping to rehabilitate patients.