Report of the sensor readout electronics panel

The findings of the Sensor Readout Electronics Panel are summarized in regard to technology assessment and recommended development plans. In addition to two specific readout issues, cryogenic readouts and sub-electron noise, the panel considered three advanced technology areas that impact the ability to achieve large format sensor arrays. These are mega-pixel focal plane packaging issues, focal plane to data processing module interfaces, and event driven readout architectures. Development in each of these five areas was judged to have significant impact in enabling the sensor performance desired for the Astrotech 21 mission set. Other readout issues, such as focal plane signal processing or other high volume data acquisition applications important for Eos-type mapping, were determined not to be relevant for astrophysics science goals

Differential effects of hnRNP D/AUF1 isoforms on HIV-1 gene expression

Control of RNA processing plays a major role in HIV-1 gene expression. To explore the role of several hnRNP proteins in this process, we carried out a siRNA screen to examine the effect of depletion of hnRNPs A1, A2, D, H, I and K on HIV-1 gene expression. While loss of hnRNPs H, I or K had little effect, depletion of A1 and A2 increased expression of viral structural proteins. In contrast, reduced hnRNP D expression decreased synthesis of HIV-1 Gag and Env. Loss of hnRNP D induced no changes in viral RNA abundance but reduced the accumulation of HIV-1 unspliced and singly spliced RNAs in the cytoplasm. Subsequent analyses determined that hnRNP D underwent relocalization to the cytoplasm upon HIV-1 infection and was associated with Gag protein. Screening of the four isoforms of hnRNP D determined that, upon overexpression, they had differential effects on HIV-1 Gag expression, p45 and p42 isoforms increased viral Gag synthesis while p40 and p37 suppressed it. The differential effect of hnRNP D isoforms on HIV-1 expression suggests that their relative abundance could contribute to the permissiveness of cell types to replicate the virus, a hypothesis subsequently confirmed by selective depletion of p45 and p42

Effects of Cognitive Behavioral Treatment on Physical Health Status in Patients With Panic Disorder

The relationship between panic disorder and nonpsychiatric medical illness is complex, but some evidence suggests that panic disorder increases risk for a variety of nonpsychiatric medical conditions. Given the demonstrated efficacy of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for panic disorder, we were interested in evaluating the effects of CBT for panic disorder on nonpsychiatric medical symptoms among these patients. Patients were randomized to a 12-week group-administered CBT protocol (n = 22) or a delayedtreatment conlrol (n = 24). Treated patients showed marked improvement in both anxiety symptoms and physical health symptom ratings that were evident at midtreatment and were maintained through a 6-month follow-up period. Despite comparable rates of change, changes in anxiety symptoms did not appear to mediate the relationship between treatment and improved physical health ratings. These findings indicate that CBT appears to have an immediate and long-term beneficial impact on physical health and that this effect is independent from its impact on anxiety symptoms