Energy-Efficient Computing for Extreme-Scale Science

A many-core processor design for high-performance systems draws from embedded computing's low-power architectures and design processes, providing a radical alternative to cluster solutions.     

Conformity--Good and Bad.

In reading Marie Jahoda's "Psychological Issues in Civil Liberties," (American Psychologist, 11, 1956, pp. 234-240) I was struck with the ambiguous use of the term "conformity" and the alarm which borders on the hysterical. Lest the unwary reader swallow this seeming hysteria uncritically, some clarification of the semantical differences in the term is in order. There is no argument here with the praiseworthy experimental design and methodology which Jahoda presents--it is with her ambiguous concept of "conformity." "Conformity" as used by Jahoda connotes a collective adherence by an irrational society to drab and erroneous beliefs or doctrines. Thus, the terms "arid conformity" and "stultifying conformity." There is the other concept of conformity which describes the value preferences of highly civilized societies. There is the other concept of conformity which describes the value preferences of highly civilized societies. The first connotation would apply to Hitler's Germany--the authoritarian and ethnocentric society that savagely eliminated those who disagreed. The second or favorable connotation applies to those values, laws, and institutions which have been formulated and refined with blood and tears down through the centuries and are now "conformed" to and "adhered" to by Englishmen and Americans with an intuitive grasp of their worth. In this sense no society is possible without conformity. It is our thesis that conformity (in the second sense) is necessary; and that sanctions of some sort are indispensable in order that any conformity be achieved in an orderly society. The sanctions or coercions take different forms: education, social pressures, and laws. The alarm with which liberals view these sanctions becomes clear when the concept of relativity is invoked. They formulate an inflexible doctrine of "freedom" which prohibits sanctions of any kind. Thus, through their tinted glasses of "license," every move is labeled "thought control," "book burning," or stultifying "conformity." Liberals should examine themselves for "self-consistency." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

White colour standard CRT colour calculations

In this paper, we show the manner in which the white colour coordinates can be calculated for the White Colour CRT Standard. We will address how the colour CRT standard is made, the colour theory needed for the calculation of white colour of a colour CRT with a mask and some experimental results. A simple model is then developed with empirically determined luminance factors. These are shown to be adequate to calculate the white colour coordinates of a maskless colour CRT.     

Oncolytic Virotherapy and Microenvironment in Multiple Myeloma

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a hematologic malignancy characterized by the accumulation of bone marrow (BM) clonal plasma cells, which are strictly dependent on the microenvironment. Despite the improvement of MM survival with the use of new drugs, MM patients still relapse and become always refractory to the treatment. The development of new therapeutic strategies targeting both tumor and microenvironment cells are necessary. Oncolytic virotherapy represent a promising approach in cancer treatment due to tumor-specific oncolysis and activation of the immune system. Different types of human viruses were checked in preclinical MM models, and the use of several viruses are currently investigated in clinical trials in MM patients. More recently, the use of alternative non-human viruses has been also highlighted in preclinical studies. This strategy could avoid the antiviral immune response of the patients against human viruses due to vaccination or natural infections, which could invalid the efficiency of virotherapy approach. In this review, we explored the effects of the main oncolytic viruses, which act through both direct and indirect mechanisms targeting myeloma and microenvironment cells inducing an anti-MM response. The efficacy of the oncolytic virus-therapy in combination with other anti-MM drugs targeting the microenvironment has been also discussed.     

Gene-Delivery Ability of New Hydrogenated and Partially Fluorinated Gemini bispyridinium Surfactants with Six Methylene Spacers

The pandemic emergency determined by the spreading worldwide of the SARS-CoV-2 virus has focused the scientific and economic efforts of the pharmaceutical industry and governments on the possibility to fight the virus by genetic immunization. The genetic material must be delivered inside the cells by means of vectors. Due to the risk of adverse or immunogenic reaction or replication connected with the more efficient viral vectors, non-viral vectors are in many cases considered as a preferred strategy for gene delivery into eukaryotic cells. This paper is devoted to the evaluation of the gene delivery ability of new synthesized gemini bis-pyridinium surfactants with six methylene spacers, both hydrogenated and fluorinated, in comparison with compounds with spacers of different lengths, previously studied. Results from MTT proliferation assay, electrophoresis mobility shift assay (EMSA), transient transfection assay tests and atomic force microscopy (AFM) imaging confirm that pyridinium gemini surfactants could be a valuable tool for gene delivery purposes, but their performance is highly dependent on the spacer length and strictly related to their structure in solution. All the fluorinated compounds are unable to transfect RD-4 cells, if used alone, but they are all able to deliver a plasmid carrying an enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) expression cassette, when co-formulated with 1,2-dioleyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine (DOPE) in a 1:2 ratio. The fluorinated compounds with spacers formed by six (FGP6) and eight carbon atoms (FGP8) give rise to a very interesting gene delivery activity, greater to that of the commercial reagent, when formulated with DOPE. The hydrogenated compound GP16_6 is unable to sufficiently compact the DNA, as shown by AFM images.     

Comparison of patterns of pulmonary venous blood flow in the functional single ventricle heart after operative aortopulmonary shunt versus superior cavopulmonary shunt

In this study we investigated the patterns of pulmonary venous flow in children with functional single ventricles to obtain a better understanding of the determinants of transpulmonary blood flow. Sixty-eight patients with functional single ventricles and aortopulmonary shunt (n = 34, group I), or superior cavopulmonary connection (n = 34, group II) underwent transesophageal Doppler echocardiographic assessment of flow in the left upper pulmonary vein before undergoing the next stage of surgery. Twelve patients from group II also underwent simultaneous evaluation of superior vena caval flow. Biphasic forward pulmonary venous flow was noted in 62 patients in sinus rhythm (S wave in systole, D wave in diastole); in 6 patients with junctional rhythm, significant early systolic reversal of flow was present. Both the S- and D-wave velocity-time integrals (VTI) were greater in group I than in group II (S(VTI) 9.9 +/- 4.2 vs 8.0 +/- 2.6, p = 0.02; D(VTI) 8.0 +/- 3.5 vs 4.2 +/- 2.6, p <0.001). In both groups, pulmonary venous flow was predominantly systolic; however, the proportion of flow during ventricular systole was significantly greater in group II than in group I (S(VTI)/D(VTI) group II: 2.4 +/- 1.5; group I 1.4 +/- 0.5, p = 0.001; percent systolic fraction of pulmonary venous flow group II = 67%, group I = 56%, p <0.001). Analysis of superior vena caval flow in group II revealed a single predominant wave with onset at early systole and peak in late systole at a mean of 150 ms after the pulmonary venous S-wave peak. Our data suggest that ventricular systole (i.e., atrial relaxation, atrioventricular valve descent) asserts great influence on transpulmonary blood flow in the functional single ventricle.     

Differences between nouns and verbs after anterior temporal lobectomy.

To test the claim that lesions of left anterior and middle temporal cortical structures specifically impair processing of nouns but not verbs, 56 left-hemisphere-language-dominant patients who had undergone anterior temporal lobectomy (ATL) completed tasks assessing confrontation naming of pictured objects and actions, generation of synonyms for nouns and verbs, and semantic lexical judgments about nouns and verbs. Compared with right ATL patients left ATL patients were impaired across different tasks that assessed naming and comprehension of high-imageability as well as low-imageability nouns. These groups did not differ, however, in verb naming or comprehension on most tasks. Results are consistent with the hypothesized specialization of left temporal lobe structures for processing nouns and suggest that naming problems commonly seen after left ATL extend beyond difficulties with retrieving object names and may be related to subtle disturbances in comprehension of the meanings underlying nominal word forms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

IMPACT CRATERS:IMPLICATIONS FOR BASEMENT HYDROCARBON PRODUCTION

The impact cratering process results in unique structures and extensive fracturing and brecciation of the target rock which can be conducive to hydrocarbon accumulations. Examination of Viewfield and Red Wing Creek oil pools in North America reveals that they may have been formed by meteoritic impact in Paleozoic sediments. Additional hydrocarbon traps have most likely been produced by impact but have not been recognized as such because geologists are generally not familiar with crater structures and shock-metamorphic effects in rocks. It is proposed that petroliferous basement impact craters also exist and that despite arguments to the contrary, at least one may have already been found. Further discoveries are severely limited because of conservative exploration procedures, which characteristically avoid penetrating crystalline basement.
Core analysis from several large impact sites developed in crystalline rocks reveals that while permeability factors are marginal, the reservoir potential of these craters exceeds those of many of the largest known hydrocarbon accumulations. Preservation age studies of craters in conjunction with size frequency distribution curves implies that many will have been buried before erosional eradication. As with normally-fractured and brecciated basement areas, some will have accumulated hydrocarbons. In addition to classical source rocks flanking or overlying these potential reservoirs, recycled kerogen and the possibility of inorganic sources are also considered. A basement impact crater may afford a unique way of testing the inorganic hydrocarbon proposals.