Ocean properties

The author has identified the following significant results. Results of testing the CP program indicate that the best results can be obtained in the near infrared water bands. The absorption due to water vapor and carbon dioxide in the thermal infrared band appeared to be less reliable in comparison to spacecraft-acquired data and band models. Comparisons of laboratory carbon dioxide transmission in the thermal infrared band show good agreement except in regions where lines are known to be missing. The comparison of ozone transmission at a wavelength of 9.6 micrometers to laboratory data showed unexceptedly large differences

Application of diffusion bonding to electronic interconnection of flatpack leads

Diffusion-bonded joints between gold-plated Kovar leads and indium-plated copper circuit pads offer some advantages for electronic circuit packaging. Test results show that consistent high strength bonds stronger than the copper circuit foil are achieved by parallel-gap bonding at relatively low power settings. The bonds are basically formed by the alloying of the gold, indium and copper at the bond interface. Other low melting metals such as tin can also be used; however, tin does not offer the ease of bonding that results in consistent separation of the copper foil during pull testing. The investigation was conducted in three parts consisting of: (1) an evaluation of the physical strength of resulting bonds at ambient and elevated temperature, (2) a metallurgical analysis of bonds using scanning electron microscopy and nondispersive X-ray analysis, and (3) evaluation and development of various schemes for multiple lead flatpack bonding

A Case History of Titanium Stress Corrosion in Nitrogen Tetroxide

An investigation of the incompatibility of titanium in certain grades of nitrogen tetroxide will be discussed as a case history. The methodology used in its resolution will point out some of the dangers associate with compatibility testing. The methodology also will present some of the difficulties associated with coordinating an investigation involving many contractors and U. S. Government agencies. The techniques employed in this investigation are described in considerable detail for the benefit of investigators with similar problems

Perspectives on Strategic Arms Limitations

In an age in which reassessment of traditional wisdom is being regularly called for-witness the debates over the past year regarding such topics as the Panama Canal treaties, the nature of U.S, interests in the Middle East, the normalization of relations with the People\u27s Republic of China, and the role of government in solving domestic social problems-few subjects have the potential importance for the future of the United States than does the subject of strategic nuclear forces. Because of the essentiality of the U.S. strategic nuclear arsenal in guaranteeing the viability of our national objectives and those of our allies, any proposed Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty should and must receive careful scrutiny

Levels of integration in cognitive control and sequence processing in the prefrontal cortex

Cognitive control is necessary to flexibly act in changing environments. Sequence processing is needed in language comprehension to build the syntactic structure in sentences. Functional imaging studies suggest that sequence processing engages the left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (PFC). In contrast, cognitive control processes additionally recruit bilateral rostral lateral PFC regions. The present study aimed to investigate these two types of processes in one experimental paradigm. Sequence processing was manipulated using two different sequencing rules varying in complexity. Cognitive control was varied with different cue-sets that determined the choice of a sequencing rule. Univariate analyses revealed distinct PFC regions for the two types of processing (i.e. sequence processing: left ventrolateral PFC and cognitive control processing: bilateral dorsolateral and rostral PFC). Moreover, in a common brain network (including left lateral PFC and intraparietal sulcus) no interaction between sequence and cognitive control processing was observed. In contrast, a multivariate pattern analysis revealed an interaction of sequence and cognitive control processing, such that voxels in left lateral PFC and parietal cortex showed different tuning functions for tasks involving different sequencing and cognitive control demands. These results suggest that the difference between the process of rule selection (i.e. cognitive control) and the process of rule-based sequencing (i.e. sequence processing) find their neuronal underpinnings in distinct activation patterns in lateral PFC. Moreover, the combination of rule selection and rule sequencing can shape the response of neurons in lateral PFC and parietal cortex

A new paradigm for the prediction of antidepressant treatment response

Current treatment of Major Depressive Disorder utilizes a trial-and-error sequential treatment strategy that results in delays in achieving response and remission for a majority of patients. Protracted ineffective treatment prolongs patient suffering and increases health care costs. In addition, long and unsuccessful antidepressant trials may diminish patient expectations, reinforce negative cognitions, and condition patients not to respond during subsequent antidepressant trials, thus contributing to further treatment resistance. For these reasons, it is critical to identify reliable predictors of antidepressant treatment response that can be used to shorten or eliminate lengthy and ineffective trials. Research on possible endophenotypic as well as genomic predictors has not yet yielded reliable predictors. The most reliable predictors identified thus far are symptomatic and physiologic characteristics of patients that emerge early in the course of treatment. We propose here the term “response endophenotypes” (REs) to describe this class of predictors, defined as latent measurable symptomatic or neurobiologie responses of individual patients that emerge early in the course of treatment, and which carry strong predictive power for individual patient outcomes. Use of REs constitutes a new paradigm in which medication treatment trials that are likely to be ineffective could be stopped within 1 to 2 weeks and other medication more likely to be effective could be started. Data presented here suggest that early changes in symptoms, quantitative electroencephalography, and gene expression could be used to construct effective REs. We posit that this new paradigm could lead to earlier recovery from depressive illness and ultimately produce profound health and economic benefits

Antibody-mediated inhibition of syndecan-4 dimerisation reduces interleukin (IL)-1 receptor trafficking and signalling.

OBJECTIVE: Syndecan-4 (sdc4) is a cell-anchored proteoglycan that consists of a transmembrane core protein and glucosaminoglycan (GAG) side chains. Binding of soluble factors to the GAG chains of sdc4 may result in the dimerisation of sdc4 and the initiation of downstream signalling cascades. However, the question of how sdc4 dimerisation and signalling affects the response of cells to inflammatory stimuli is unknown. METHODS: Sdc4 immunostaining was performed on rheumatoid arthritis (RA) tissue sections. Interleukin (IL)-1 induced extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERK) phosphorylation and matrix metalloproteinase-3 production was investigated. Il-1 binding to sdc4 was investigated using immunoprecipitation. IL-1 receptor (IL1R1) staining on wild-type, sdc4 and IL1R1 knockout fibroblasts was performed in fluorescence-activated cell sorting analyses. A blocking sdc4 antibody was used to investigate sdc4 dimerisation, IL1R1 expression and the histological paw destruction in the human tumour necrosis factor-alpha transgenic mouse. RESULTS: We show that in fibroblasts, the loss of sdc4 or the antibody-mediated inhibition of sdc4 dimerisation reduces the cell surface expression of the IL-1R and regulates the sensitivity of fibroblasts to IL-1. We demonstrate that IL-1 directly binds to sdc4 and in an IL-1R-independent manner leads to its dimerisation. IL-1-induced dimerisation of sdc4 regulates caveolin vesicle-mediated trafficking of the IL1R1, which in turn determines the responsiveness to IL-1. Administration of antibodies (Ab) against the dimerisation domain of sdc4, thus, strongly reduces the expression IL1R1 on arthritic fibroblasts both in vitro and an animal model of human RA. CONCLUSION: Collectively, our data suggest that Ab that specifically inhibit sdc4 dimerisation may support anti-IL-1 strategies in diseases such as inflammatory arthritis