A brief assessment of concerns associated with genetic testing for cancer: The multidimensional impact of cancer risk assessment (MICRA) questionnaire.

The Multidimensional Impact of Cancer Risk Assessment (MICRA) is a new tool to measure the specific impact of result disclosure after genetic testing. The authors compared its performance with that of questionnaires measuring general and cancer-specific distress. Participants (158 women) responded 1 month after they received genetic test results. The women were divided into 4 standard clinical test result groups: BRCA1/2 positive, BRCA1/2 negative, panel negative, and true negative. Factor analysis supported the formation of 3 subscales: Distress (6 items, α= .86), Uncertainty (9 items, α= .77), and Positive Experiences (4 items, α= .75). All 3 MICRA subscales differentiated participants who were BRCAI/2 positive from the other 3 groups. MICRA thus helps identify subgroups of vulnerable genetic testing participants. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Maximizing versus satisficing: Happiness is a matter of choice.

Can people feel worse off as the options they face increase? The present studies suggest that some people--maximizers--can. Study 1 reported a Maximization Scale, which measures individual differences in desire to maximize. Seven samples revealed negative correlations between maximization and happiness, optimism, self-esteem, and life satisfaction, and positive correlations between maximization and depression, perfectionism, and regret. Study 2 found maximizers less satisfied than nonmaximizers (satisficers) with consumer decisions, and more likely to engage in social comparison. Study 3 found maximizers more adversely affected by upward social comparison. Study 4 found maximizers more sensitive to regret and less satisfied in an ultimatum bargaining game. The interaction between maximizing and choice is discussed in terms of regret, adaptation, and self-blame. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

pH and Acid Anion Time Trends in Different Elevation Ranges in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Quarterly base flow water quality data collected from October, 1993 to November, 2002 at 90 stream sites in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park were used in step-wise multiple linear regression models to analyze pH, acid neutralizing capacity (ANC), and sulfate and nitrate long-term time trends. The potential predictor variables included cumulative Julian day, seasonality, elevation, basin slope, stream order, precipitation, surrogate streamflows, geology, and acid depositional fluxes. Modeling revealed statistically significant decreasing trends in pH and sulfate with time at lower elevations, but generally no long-term time trends in stream nitrate or ANC. The best forecasting models were chosen based on maximizing the r2 of a holdout data set. If conditions remain the same and past trends continue, the forecasting models suggest that 30.0% of the sampling sites will reach pH values less than 6.0 in less than 10?years, 63.3% in less than 25?years, and 96.7% in less than 50?years. The pH forecasting models explain 65% of the variability in the holdout data.     

The Development of Fluorescence Intensity Standards

The use of fluorescence as an analytical technique has been growing over the last 20 years. A major factor in inhibiting more rapid growth has been the inability to make comparable fluorescence intensity measurements across laboratories. NIST recognizes the need to develop and provide primary fluorescence intensity standard (FIS) reference materials to the scientific and technical communities involved in these assays. The critical component of the effort will be the cooperation between the Federal laboratories, the manufacturers, and the technical personnel who will use the fluorescence intensity standards. We realize that the development and use of FIS will have to overcome many difficulties. However, as we outline in this article, the development of FIS is feasible.     

Formulation of Controlled Release Matrices by Granulation with a Polymer Dispersion

The objective of this work was to incorporate an ethylcellulose-based controlled-release coating suspension (Surelease, Colorcon) within a tablet matrix to provide a release controlling mechanism. Anhydrous theophylline, chlorpheniramine maleate, and acetaminophen were selected as model drug entities. Surelease dispersion was incorporated as the granulating agent either to the drug entity alone or to a blended mixture of drug and filler. Control batches included simple aqueous granulations and direct compression mixtures. Tablets were prepared on a single stroke tablet press. Dissolution was performed by the USP Method I (rotating basket) in purified water for the granulations and the resulting tablets. The uncompressed granulations did not exhibit prolonged release. In general, tablets prepared with the polymer suspension as the granulating agent were non-disintegrating, and exhibited slower dissolution than the control tablets. Release profiles were affected by drug concentration and excipient levels. By the dissolution method selected, complete drug release for the various formulations ranged from less than 1 hour to greater than 12 hours. The use of the polymer dispersion appears to enhance the processing characteristics of some materials, and to provide the formulator with control over drug release.     

A programmable analog neural network chip

A generic chip is implemented in CMOS to facilitate studying networks by building them in analog VLSI. By utilizing the well-known properties of charge storage and charge injection in a novel way, the authors have achieved a high enough level of complexity (>10³ weights and 10 bits of analog depth) to be interesting, in spite of the limitation of a modest 6.00×3.5-mm² die size required by a multiproject fabrication run. If the cell were optimized to represent fixed-weight networks by eliminating weight decay and bidirectional weight changes, the density could easily be increased by a factor of 2 with no loss in resolution. Once a weight change vector has been written to the RAM cells, charge transfers can be clocked at a rate of 2 MHz, corresponding to peak learning rates of 2×10⁹ weight changes/second and exceeding the throughput of `neural network accelerators' by two orders of magnitude     

An energy-efficient approach to power control and receiver design in wireless data networks

In this paper, the cross-layer design problem of joint multiuser detection and power control is studied, using a game-theoretic approach that focuses on energy efficiency. The uplink of a direct-sequence code-division multiple-access data network is considered, and a noncooperative game is proposed in which users in the network are allowed to choose their uplink receivers as well as their transmit powers to maximize their own utilities. The utility function measures the number of reliable bits transmitted by the user per joule of energy consumed. Focusing on linear receivers, the Nash equilibrium for the proposed game is derived. It is shown that the equilibrium is one where the powers are signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio-balanced with the minimum mean-square error (MMSE) detector as the receiver. In addition, this framework is used to study power-control games for the matched filter, the decorrelator, and the MMSE detector; and the receivers' performance is compared in terms of the utilities achieved at equilibrium (in bits/joule). The optimal cooperative solution is also discussed and compared with the noncooperative approach. Extensions of the results to the case of multiple receive antennas are also presented. In addition, an admission-control scheme based on maximizing the total utility in the network is proposed.     

Crack speed relations inferred from large SEN specimens of A533B steel

A relationship between instantaneous crack tip velocity ( ), dynamic stress intensity factor (K_I, and temperature (T) for A533B steel is estimated using dynamic crack position vs time data measured in a series of very large scale crack arrest tests. The corresponding dynamic stress intensity vs time history and the dynamic arrest toughness for each test are obtained from generation mode elastodynamic analyses based on cubic polynomial fits to the discrete crack position data points. Application mode elastodynamic analytical predictions based on the proposed relationship are within 7% of experimentally measured arrest crack lengths and within 50% of measured arrest times. These predictions represent significant improvements over results obtained using previous preliminary estimates of the relation for A533B. The influence of nonlinear material behavior on the results is also evaluated.     

Short-term exposure to the environmentally relevant estrogenic mycotoxin zearalenone impairs reproduction in fish

Zearalenone (ZON) is one of the worldwide most common mycotoxins and exhibits estrogenic activity in the range of natural steroid estrogens such as 17β-estradiol (E2). The occurrence of ZON has been reported in drainage water, soil, wastewater effluents and rivers, but its ecotoxicological effects on fish have hardly been investigated.In this study the estrogenic potency of the ZON was compared to E2 in a recombinant yeast estrogen screen (rYES) and the effects of waterborne ZON exposure on reproduction, physiology and morphology of zebrafish (Danio rerio) were investigated in a 42-day reproduction experiment. E2 as well as ZON evoked a sigmoid concentration-response curve in the rYES with a mean EC₅₀ of 2 and 500 μg/L, respectively, resulting in an E2:ZON EC₅₀ ratio of 1:250. Exposure to ZON for 21 days reduced relative spawning frequency at 1000 and 3200 ng/L to 38.9 and 37.6%, respectively, and relative fecundity at 100, 320, 1000 and 3200 ng/L to 74.2, 41.7, 43.8 and 16.7%, respectively, in relation to the 21-day pre-exposure period. A 4.4 and 8.1 fold induction of plasma vitellogenin (VTG) was observed in male zebrafish at 1000 and 3200 ng/L ZON, respectively. Exposure to ZON did not affect fertility, hatch, embryo survival and gonad morphology of zebrafish.The results of this study demonstrate that although ZON possesses a moderate estrogenic potency in vitro, it exhibits a comparably strong effect on induction of VTG and reproduction in vivo. This indicates that ZON might contribute to the overall estrogenic activity in the environment and could therefore pose a risk for wild fish in their natural habitat.