Bright Picture Research Articles

Wall by T. M. Cole

Cole, Tom Clohosy. Wall. London: Templar Books, 2014. Print.Author and illustrator Tom Clohosy Cole tells a poignant story about a little boy separated from his father by the Berlin Wall. The boy worries about his father on the other side of the great divide and dreams of the day when they will find each other again, all with the looming presence of the barb-wired Wall in the background of every page. Inspired by true stories of people being reunited with their loved ones, Cole writes from a little boy’s perspective about hope and his courageous journey with his family to find his father.Although there are very few words in this picture book, the mood is captured with Cole’s use of simple and dark illustrations that evoke a sense of sadness then eloquently juxtaposes these images with brighter pictures of the opposite side of the Wall representing the possibility of hope. You will need time to read these images as they truly capture the treacherous passage that many people risked their lives to take to find peace for themselves. Cole focalizes his illustrations from the perspective of the boy looking out into his world and suddenly manages to shift this perspective as if the reader is the boy looking out during one of the most dramatic scenes in the story. Will this family be unified at last? Find out when you read this story of enduring hope in a seemingly impossible situation.I strongly recommend this story for upper elementary students as they may relate to the idea of separation from family, but they may struggle with understanding the political themes within this story.Highly recommended: 4 out of 4 starsReviewer: Krishna ChavdaKrishna Chavda is an elementary school teacher for the Elk Island Public School District. She is currently pursuing graduate studies in the area of Language and Literacy at the University of Alberta. She is passionate about the area of literacy at the primary school level.

Do-si-do: Dan Christensen.

Painting in typical fashion with a brush only was seemingly too limited in its scope for the inventive mind of abstract painter Dan Christensen (19422007). With tools that included spray guns, rollers, and squeegees, he created pictures of festively tinted looping strips resembling ribbons, mysterious wedges of color, and spheres that were all a-shimmer. His painting processes were fascinating in their own right, and in making the bright pictures that epitomize his body of work he may have had more fun than just about anyone else. Christensen was born in Nebraska, in the same region where renowned painter Robert Henri had lived for a time in his younger years during the 19th century. An important point along Christensen’s artistic path occurred when in his teens he encountered work by painter Jackson Pollock, which may have suggested to him the possibility of developing one’s own unique style (Peters L. Dan Christensen: The Stain Paintings, 1976-1988. New York, NY: Spanierman Modern; 2011:3-7). Christensen received a degree from the Kansas City Art Institute in 1964 and shortly thereafter moved to New York. As a measure of his soon-realized success, his work was exhibited at the Whitney Museum of American Art while he was still in his 20s. It seems likely his early approaches to abstract painting were influenced by that of contemporaries who were color field painters, including his friend, the artist Jules Olitski (Adlmann JE. Dan Christensen (1942-2007): Pure Painting: A Forty-Year Retrospective. Santa Fe, NM: LewAllen Contemporary; 2007:2-4). Indeed, some of Christensen’s own work during his bold experimentations with methods was considered to be color field in character, a style of painting in which sections of uninterrupted color are salient features of the picture. Although his brilliant spray-painted ribbony bands were well enough received, Christensen seemed compelled to find newways toexpresshisdelightwith color, and in several years or so hence he began juxtaposing rectangular blocks of pigment inworks that came tobeknownashis “plaid” series. For this group of his paintings, he used squeegees and paint rollers to apply paint to canvases secured to the floor. This experimentwas followed by another one, resulting inwhatwas termed “slab” paintings. The technique for these works included the layering of different colors that created a sense of depthand intrigue.Theprocessof creating theslabgenrecould include use of trowels or squeegees or involve forceful brushwork (Peters, p 3). Other artistic approaches for Christensen included a lyrical etching of lines and other ciphering on a painted surface. In later developments around the 1990s, his work evolved tohis admired “circle” images. Thepaintings of radiant rounded forms at this stage of his careerwere someof his more sought-after pieces (Adlmann, p 4). An example of the glowing disks that characterized his work during this era isDo-Si-Do, in which a retina-searing seriesofconcentric circles is seen.Thecoreandsurroundingrings each seems to have its own oscillating nimbus of energy. Perhaps in creating this image, Christensenwas recalling a childhood with sweltering summer days dominated by a relentless fireball in the sky.Theviewer’s gazemaypause inaneffort to register the flux of galvanic hues rippling out from the center. As noted, “Do-Si-Do is a work from late in his career, but showshis career longobsessionwithcolor.Thecircular shapes in the painting are less of a focus than the vibrant color. ... ” (http://acm.wichitaartmuseum.org/acm/detail.php?action =v&id=1424724902535936.) An alternate interpretation of the work involves consideration of the “do-si-do” dance maneuver in which participants move around one another. Christensenmayhave intended to convey a dynamic sense of elements rotating around a central entity not unlike that seen in a solar system. Christensen is said to have had a condition thought to be polymyositis. He died in 2007, leaving behind his wife and children. The curiosity that characterized his adventurous tryouts of new color interplay, techniques, and forms resulted in images that in some cases seem to nearly pop from the picture in 3D. More particularly, his enjoyment in working with color as it pleased him seems reflected in the vivid effervescent renderings that become unforgettable images in the mind’s eye of the viewer. Perhaps Christensen’s philosophy of his artistic pursuits is best summarized by his proposition that “ ... painting is for pleasure. It’s like listening to music. That’s all.” (Adlmann, p 3.)

Brightness differences influence the evaluation of affective pictures

We explored the possibility of a general brightness bias: brighter pictures are evaluated more positively, while darker pictures are evaluated more negatively. In Study 1 we found that positive pictures are brighter than negative pictures in two affective picture databases (the IAPS and the GAPED). Study 2 revealed that because researchers select affective pictures on the extremity of their affective rating without controlling for brightness differences, pictures used in positive conditions of experiments were on average brighter than those used in negative conditions. Going beyond correlational support for our hypothesis, Studies 3 and 4 showed that brighter versions of neutral pictures were evaluated more positively than darker versions of the same picture. Study 5 revealed that people categorised positive words more quickly than negative words after a bright picture prime, and vice versa for negative pictures. Together, these studies provide strong support for the hypotheses that picture brightness influences evaluations.

Re : Acute Coronary Syndrome , Diabetes and Hypertension : Oman Must Pay More Attention to Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases

Re : Acute Coronary Syndrome , Diabetes and Hypertension : Oman Must Pay More Attention to Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases

Resonance-Raman microspectroscopy for quality assurance of dye-sensitized NiOx films with respect to dye desorption kinetics in water

Resonance Raman microspectroscopy is used to investigate dye-sensitized NiO(x) nanoparticle films to be used as photocathodes in tandem dye-sensitized solar cells. It is shown that rR microspectroscopy has potential for applications in quality assurance in such systems and also in integrated dye-sensitized solar cell modules. Here, ruthenium dye-sensitized NiO(x) nanoparticle layers were produced both as single and double NiO(x) films using a one or two-step deposition process, respectively. The distribution of the sensitizer on the surfaces was investigated by rR microspectroscopy. The chemical images obtained from rR microspectroscopy yield complementary information to bright field microscope pictures and provide detailed insight into the sensitization pattern e.g. in the vicinity of surface vacancies and other inhomogeneities. Furthermore, based on the mapping results the dye desorption kinetics upon addition of water has been analysed. Desorption on the single NiO(x) film is faster and more efficient than on the double film. These changes are attributed to binding sites on the NiO(x) surface that are passivated with regard to water penetration. This passivation is introduced by the second synthesis step in building the second film of NiO(x) on the glass substrate. Both findings highlight the potential of rR microspectroscopy for quality assurance of dye-sensitized solar cell electrodes.

From Inherent Value to Incentive Value: When and Why Pointless Effort Enhances Consumer Preference

Companies typically use clear fonts and bright pictures in their ads, Web sites, and product-package designs; place their products on easy-to-reach shelves; and emphasize ease-of-usage to make their products appear desirable to consumers. However, we suggest that customers focused on “incentive” value (getting the best product) may instead see products associated with noninstrumental (pointless) effort as more desirable. We suggest that because effort is usually required to get the best outcomes, people looking for the best outcomes also mistakenly presume effort must imply the best possible outcome. Across five studies, we show that highlighting incentive value—for instance, by message framing or by measuring chronic focus or by manipulating situational focus on incentive value—enhances preference toward outcomes associated with noninstrumental effort. We discuss the importance of our findings for understanding everyday consumption decisions and argue for a widespread tendency among individuals wanting the best to infer value from noninstrumental effort.

Abstract B113: Establishment of a clinically relevant orthotopic xenograft model for human liver cancer.

Abstract In order to allow a better understanding of liver carcinoma, the establishment of functional and reproducible in vivo models is widely pursued. Of available model systems, orthotopically growing xenografts in immunodeficient mice reflect well the clinical situation. In the present study, the growth behaviour and sensitivity towards the multikinase inhibitor sorafenib of human liver carcinoma cells implanted orthotopically into NMRI nude mice was investigated. Liver carcinoma cell line SKHEP1 was injected orthotopically into nude mice. Three days after inoculation of 5 Mio. tumor cells, mice were subdivided into two groups, and treatment was started either with vehicle (control) or sorafenib (100 mg/kg/d, po, days 3–36). Tumor growth was monitored via a) fluorescence-based in vivo imaging (IVI, using Alexa750 labeled anti-human CD10 antibody) once weekly, b) macroscopic examination at the end of the experiment, and c) histological examination of murine liver tissue. IVI pictures were merged with x-ray for an optimal localization of the fluorescent tissue. Antitumoral and antimetastatic capacity was determined by comparing the fluorescent intensity as well as the fluorescent area for primary tumors and metastasized organs over the time. Seven days after implantation, SKHEP1-derived tumors could be detected in the liver in all animals via IVI. Weekly follow-up analyses confirmed, that liver engraftment was prominent and observed in all animals (16/16). Lymphnode metastases (6/9 control mice and 3/7 Sorafenib-treated mice) could be determined 14 days after tumor cell inoculation. Beyond that bone marrow metastases (4/9) could be detected exclusively in the untreated control group. The detection limit of the investigated model was about 5×104 cells within one region of interest. Signal to noise ratio was excellent due to a highly specific antibody, the use of a near-infrared fluorophore combined with the absence of auto-fluorescense of murine hair. IVI produced very bright and reproducible pictures optimal for exact quantification of the tumor load. Sorafenib showed a strong antitumoral and antimetastastatic activity, inducing optimal T/C values as low as 2.7% for the primary tumor and 40% for the lymphnode metastases on day 56. In addition, the total number of metastasized animals was reduced in comparison to the untreated animals. The occurrence of bone marrow metastases was almost completely reduced by sorafenib treatment. Tolerability of the test compound was very high as no marked body weight losses or drug related toxicities could be observed. Our xenografts show a close resemblance to the liver cancer disease regarding the growth behaviour of primary tumor and metastatic involvement of other organs. Collection of whole-body IVI data proved to be a time- and animal-saving analysis that allows to closely monitor hepato-carcinoma growth. Quantification and localization of tumor load was determined in a very exact and prompt manner. Thus, orthotopically implanted liver xenografts monitored by a fluorescent-based in vivo imaging system will be a useful tool in the development of new therapies against human liver carcinoma. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference: Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics; 2011 Nov 12-16; San Francisco, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Ther 2011;10(11 Suppl):Abstract nr B113.

Comments: Positive Forecasts

Editor's column Higher oil prices, continued enthusiasm over shale, and the influx of capital are combining to paint a bright picture for the oil and gas industry this year. Both operators and the service sector appear optimistic for growth opportunities—despite some uncertainty surrounding offshore drilling—as the industry quickly rebounds from recession. The Original E&P Spending Survey by Barclays Capital forecasts that global E&P spending will increase 11% this year, from USD 442 billion in 2010 to USD 490 billion in 2011. The survey is based on information from 402 international oil companies, national oil companies, and independents. The outlook for spending in Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa, and Southeast Asia appears particularly bright. International oil companies will post the largest increases in spending, says the study, a reversal from previous years when national oil companies led spending increases. BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Shell, and Total are expected to boost expenditures by 18% in the aggregate. Factors driving the increased spending by operators include engineering and construction spending for several large liquefied natural gas projects, increased spending in Iraq, and an increase in deepwater activity, the report said. A recent Wood Mackenzie analysis reported that global upstream capital spending for 2010 would hit USD 380 billion and that many regions and sectors of the upstream industry are regaining confidence. Spending last year was about USD 19 billion higher than in 2009 but 10% lower than 2008. The Wood Mackenzie report said it expects spending to continue to increase in the short term and recover to 2008 levels by 2012 or 2013. The industry’s recovery is largely being led by spending on developing unconventional resources such as shale, the report said. Although most of the spending to date has been in developing US shale plays, operators are increasingly eyeing opportunities in Eastern Europe and elsewhere. Also boosting recovery is the influx of capital. More than half of chief financial officers (CFOs) in the oil and gas industry report that their companies’ ability to access capital and credit is either the same or better than it was a year ago, according to a study by BDO USA, an accounting and consulting organization. That renewed access to capital is allowing companies to aggressively pursue the acquisition of new properties, technologies, and other companies. In addition, 95% of the CFOs surveyed expect to maintain or increase the number of personnel employed by their companies this year. The oilfield services sector also appears healthy. The annual IHS Herold Review of the Oil Field Services Sector reported that key oil company financial performance for service companies by late last year had greatly improved, including for Baker Hughes, Halliburton, and Schlumberger as well as for offshore drilling contractors Transocean, Diamond Offshore, and Oceaneering International, among others.

Two Realms of Light: Peter Paul Ruben’s “Assumption of Mary” (1626) and Gregory Schneider’s “End” (2008)

The relationship between art and death in Art History is not unfamiliar. There are pictures of the ars moriendi in front of which man comprehends his anxieties and searches for consolation as peace. Peter Paul Rubens created such works in high numbers: the same Assumption of Mary five times for large altars. The best of these still hangs today in the Cathedral of Antwerp. It is an apotheosis in light and in bright colors, a belief-filled and prayerful picture that concerns the transformation of death into life. Thousands of these kinds of pictures are found in museums, so that their role for consolation and eternals peace is lost. In modern times, death in form and style has been lost. Now another artist of our own time brings death as an event back into the museum. Gregor Schneider has the idea of death-spaces in museums. They are bright, flooded with light. They lay away from the streams of visitors, only slightly accessible, illuminated, filled with light and color: death-boxes in the museum, wide rooms in which “to die beautifully and fulfilled,” as Schneider says.

MIR talks to Vinita Bali, Managing Director and CEO of Britannia Industries

Abstract Today we live in a truly global economy, no matter whether we talk about goods, services or manpower. Whereas economic growth rates in Europe and North America remain moderate, many Asian countries are booming despite last year´s economic downturn. This is reason enough for MIR to take a closer look at one of the rising stars: India. In June 2010, MIR talked to Vinita Bali, one of the few female CEOs of leading companies, who has worked in influential marketing positions on five continents. In describing how Britannia, one of the most famous Indian brands, handles everyday business and marketing challenges, she delivers a bright picture of the Indian economic situation

Inside Copenhagen: The State of Climate Governance

This article clarifies the outcome of the Copenhagen climate conference from the perspective of a government delegate. Access behind closed doors reveals the full extent of the damage. The failure at Copenhagen was worse than our worstcase scenario but should not obscure a bigger and brighter picture. Aggregate climate governance is in healthy condition that contrasts with the plight of multilateral climate governance. While the multilateral UN process is damaged, multilevel governance comprising regional, national and local climate policies worldwide is steadily gaining speed. The challenge to the academic community is to develop a composite measure of multilevel governance that captures aggregate public and nonstate policy initiatives at various levels.

Recent advances in pretreatment of lignocellulosic wastes and production of value added products

This study highlights the recent advances in the treatment and value addition of lignocellulosic wastes (LCW) with main focus on domestic and agro-industrial residues. Mechanical, physical and biological treatment systems are brought into perspective. The main value-added products from lignocellulosic wastes are summarized in a manner that pinpoints the most recent trends and the future directions. Physicochemical and biological treatment systems seem to be the most favored options while biofuels, biodegradable composites and biosorbents production paints a bright picture of the current and future bio-based products. Engineered microbes seem to tackle the problem of bioconversion of substrates that are otherwise non convertible by conventional wild strains. Although the main challenge facing LCW utilization is the high costs involved in treatment and production processes, some recent affordable processes with promising results have been proposed. Future trends are being directed to nanobiotechnology and genetic engineering for improved processes and products. The paper presents state of the art review of the dual advantage of handling LCW for cleaner environment and production of renewable bio-products.

In Defense of Christian Hungary: Religion, Nationalism, and Antisemitism 1890-1944 (review)

In Defense of Hungary: Religion, Nationalism, and Antisemitism 1890-1944. By Paul A. Hanebrink. (Ithaca and London: Cornell llniversity Press. 2006. Pp. x, 255. $39.95.) Rarely have I come across a more engaging, better composed study dealing with the relatively recent history of a small European country. Professor Paul A. Hanebrink earned my deepest admiration for his sharp discernment, transparent clarity, and elegant style in presenting a half-century history of the most turbulent times of modern-day Hungary. His numerous references, and an incredibly huge, comprehensive, up-to-date bibliography are indication of the massive research effort brought to fruition in this volume. True to Hanebrink's stated goal, the focus of his attention is on the role of religion, more particularly that of the leadership of the established churches - notably the majority Roman Catholic Church and the largest of the Protestant churches, the Reformed or Calvinist Church - in fostering Hungarian nationalism and also the rise of anti-Semitism. The starting point for Hanebrink is the closing decade of the nineteenth century, when Hungarian political culture was dominated by the ideas of western European Liberalism. It was the time when in the face of fierce opposition from the conservative Catholic hierarchy, but with the enthusiastic support from the Protestant leaders, clergy and lay alike, a number of laws were enacted by parliament, among them the law introducing civll marriage and the law on Jewish reception, granting the not only full civic rights, which they already had, but also to the Jewish religion nul equality with the established churches. The bright picture which Hanebrink paints of the modern, liberal, secularizing Hungary, soon underwent somber changes during the Great War, and the chaotic times that followed. The defeated country was forced to cede two-thirds of its historic lands with a third of its ethnic Hungarians to its enemies, the remaining rump being overwhelmed with refugees, whlle the government had been taken over in the fall of 1918 by well-meaning democrats, who were in March 1919 overthrown by doctrinaire Bolshevik communists. This dictatorship of the Proletariat led by BeIa Kun lasted only until August 1919, but it left in its wake an indelible memory of unfulfilled promises, misery, terror, and also outrage over the desecration of religious and national symbols dear to the majority of Hungarians. Little wonder that these events caused a 180-degree turn toward rightwing nationalism in the minds of many people who placed the blame for the erosion of the traditional mores of Hungarians squarely on the shoulders of the latssez-fatre Liberalism of the previous regimes and the Jews. The latter, compared to their small proportion in the overall population (5%), played an enormous role not only in the economy, but also in the cultural life and in politics. At no time was this more evident than during the 1919 Commune, when the political and cultural leadership, as well as the personnel of the terror squads, were almost totally of Jewish origin. The following twenty-five years had been the time of that which gave the title to this book. As Hanebrink rightly observed, a purified, spiritually reborn Hungary, which was the sincere desire of the leaders of the churches and their committed followers, remained just a slogan for the politicians, and a rallying cry for the various rightwing groups and parties, a convenient cover for their anti-Semitic feelings and activities. For these people Christian had nothing to do with being followers of Jesus of Nazareth; it simply meant non-Jewish at best, a hater of Jews at its worst. The author eloquently demonstrates how during World War II, especially in its last year when Hungary - despite being allied to Germany, in the spring of 1944 was mllitarlly occupied and politically subjugated by German troops - this anti-Semitic agitation culminated in the deportation and mass murder of over half a mlllion Jewish citizens (including converts to Christianity) of that much vaunted Hungary. …

Visualizing Labor and Commerce

Visualizing Labor and Commerce Ellen Wiley Todd (bio) Elspeth H. Brown. The Corporate Eye: Photography and the Rationalization of American Commercial Culture, 1884–1929. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005. 344 pp. Illustrations, notes, and index. $49.95. In the 1950s, when I was a small child, my father worked for the Ford Motor Company and later American Machine and Foundry (AMF). Official annual reports appeared around the house and while I skipped the boring charts and graphs, I liked the bright pictures of cars coming off assembly lines and of sports equipment. Sober corporate executive portraits resembled bust-length obituary photos. Though uninteresting in their sameness, my father echoed their formality when he left for work in the morning in his gray flannel suit. Forty-five years later, an old friend from graduate school, now a division head for G.E., sent me some similar publicity. A large-scale portfolio, its operating reports remained separate from full-page, beautifully designed portraits of products and confident division heads in various scenarios. My friend, for example, leaned against a jet engine (photo-shopped in behind him), smiling directly at the viewer. He assumed a relaxed, arms-crossed pose, dressed as if for casual corporate Friday: khakis, the blue blazer, and an open-collared white shirt. As a scholar of visual culture, I flashed back to the earlier memory and marveled at the changes in corporate public relations, not to mention photographic technologies. My historical side wondered about the institutional demands and cultural processes entailed in these transformations. In short, what was the relation over time between corporate and visual culture? Fortunately we have Elspeth H. Brown's insightful book to help with the earlier decades of this story. Her study brings together two important emerging practices in America's second Industrial Revolution: corporate rationalization and commercial photography. She charts their development as industry and business drew on photography to both legitimize and even naturalize their new systems of efficiency and marketing. During these years, as Brown writes in her careful introduction, photographic and business partners joined forces as "technocratic utopians" (p. 22). These players—from efficiency experts to industrial psychologists, public relations managers, engineers, and photographers—believed in the problem-solving capabilities of science and system and [End Page 247] in their own privileged expertise. And while they also believed, the author suggests, in "the realist promise of the photograph to anchor truth claims about individual character and efficiency through the analysis of workers' subjectivities, both corporeal and psychological," they were far less attuned to the historically mediating workings of photography and the resulting period biases in their projects (p. 4). In Brown's careful readings, the premises of industrial photography were deeply lodged in the racial, class, and gender politics of science and work at this time. But photography became nonetheless a major device in an emerging toolkit for many of these players as they tackled the new fields of motion study, industrial psychology, and public relations, all of which served the newly efficient and managed world of the industrial corporation. And in the national boosterism for corporate efficiency, it did not always matter how actual improvements in production or labor might be put to the test; it counted instead that managers could "promise the efficient rationalization of American economic life" (p. 3). Photographic truth telling could make such a claim and fulfill such a promise. Moreover, as Brown ultimately argues, "Photographic representation has been central . . . to the ways in which corporate managers have sought to secure the consent of workers, managers, and consumers to the unevenly successful project of rationalizing American capitalism" (p. 16). Brown's book satisfies in its content, its methodological and interpretive prowess, its address to multiple audiences, and its ambition. As I take these up, I should say that I belong to the visual culture wing of her audience as a historian of U.S. art. But I was constantly aware of her movement between historiographical traditions on all fronts, and the care with which she placed herself and her materials within each one. I begin by laying out her book's structure because much of her argument resides in the developments in the long...

39.1: Adaptive Dimming and Boosting Backlight for LCD‐TV Systems

AbstractThe limited transmittance of LCD panels can be observed as a waste of energy, leading to a limited brightness. Light leaking through LCD panels driven to black, can be observed as a poor black‐level, limiting the contrast ratio.Adaptive Dimming Backlight technology can be applied to attenuate the backlight luminance, improving local contrast, black‐level and saving power.The optical crosstalk between the controllable backlight segments has a negative impact on the dimming performance, limiting the spatial backlight luminance modulation. Crosstalk Compensation can partly compensate this artifact, enhancing the spatial modulation of the segments.Adaptive Boosting Backlight technology can be applied to boost the output of the panel over 100%. This improves the local brightness and contrast for a sparkling picture, still saving power.Crosstalk compensation enables deeper dimming. Deeper dimming improves on contrast and enables more boosting for an even brighter picture. So when these technologies are combined: The contrast may increase up to 5 times (CCFL/EEFL). The brightness may double and contrast may increase up to 20 times (HCFL). Alternatively, for 2D‐Dimming the spatial contrast may increase up to a factor of 100 and the temporal contrast may increase to infinite (LED). At the same time, up to 50% average power can be saved!

71.4: Improved Brightness of a FED with Low-Temperature Carbon Nanotubes

Recently carbon nanotubes have been applied for the electron emitter of field emission display device as one of strong application candidates. In a mean time, we successfully demonstrated color motion picture with the Low Temperature Carbon Nanotube Field Emission Display (LT-CNT FED) in last time. And continuously we have been working on improving the brightness of it and could get much bright color motion picture recently. For improving the brightness, we investigated the CNT growing conditions, aspect ratio of emission hole design and CNT Cathode structures. From these efforts, 5.4 inches LT-CNT FED demonstrated the brightness 136nits with the anode voltage 4.7V/μm.

Commentary: risk factors or social causes?

In many industrialized countries, there has been a welcome decline in coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality. In England and Wales, this has progressed for two decades.1 Many would like to take the credit for this decline, but the reasons for it are not entirely clear. Contributors to the decline are likely to include reductions in smoking, dietary change—but not the increase in obesity—and improvements in treatment, both of risk factors and the disease after it hits. The shadow over this bright picture is cast by the uneven nature of the improvement. In general, the higher the socioeconomic position the greater has been the improvement.2 As a result, social inequalities in CHD have increased. It is useful to keep this background in mind when considering the paper by Emberson et al. in this issue of the International Journal of Epidemiology.3 Based on analyses from the British Regional Heart Study, they argue that population wide control of risk factors—blood cholesterol, blood pressure, body mass index, cigarette smoking, alcohol, physical activity, and lung function—is a better strategy than one designed specifically to reduce social inequalities in CHD. The main reason for this conclusion is that the contribution of social class to CHD is ‘modest’. In their calculation, social class accounts for ‘only’ 22% of the CHD that occurs in a population of middle-aged British men. I must confess to having used the word ‘modest’ frequently in scientific writing. If 22% of CHD deaths can be described as modest, this literary habit needs examination. None of us in public health is in any doubt about the damage to population health caused by smoking. Indeed, the recent WHO global burden of disease study4 confirms tobacco as the single most important cause of loss of disability adjusted life years (DALYS) in developed regions of the world—and it accounts for 12.2% of lost DALYS—ultra-modest. If, and it is a rather large if, we could bring the CHD rates of men in manual occupations (the classification that Emberson et al. use) down to that of men in non-manual occupations, the 22% of all CHD deaths that would be prevented thereby, would be far from modest. It is, indeed, a large ‘if’. The argument of Emberson et al. is that we have the causes of CHD, the established risk factors, we should therefore not be diverted by concerns with social position, except possibly the high rate of smoking of those low in the hierarchy. This argument has a familiar ring. It is to be found in the excellent book of historical readings edited by Davey Smith and colleagues.5 Collis and Greenwood, writing in 1921, were discussing control of tuberculosis (consumption):

Rekindling The R&D Spiri

THIS WEEK'S COVER STORY IS C&EN'S annual compilation of data gauging the health of chemical R&D. The data were compiled by Assistant Managing Editor for Science/Technology/Education Pamela Zurer, News Editor Janice Long, and Associate Editor Sophie Wilkinson. Facts & Figures for Chemical R&D, along with Facts & Figures for the Chemical Industry (C&EN, June 25, page 42), provides the most complete statistical accounting of the U.S. chemical enterprise for a given time frame. Typically, these publications also allow readers to compare aspects of the global chemical enterprise. This year, however, we do not have a section on international R&D spending because the most recent data were not available. That omission aside, the statistics—at first glance—paint a bright picture for R&D. As the millennium drew to a close, R&D in the U.S. was in its sixth year of unparalleled growth. In particular, total R&D spending by industry in 2000 grew by 6.2% over 1999 when ...

Brighter picture for vocational training in Germany

Brighter picture for vocational training in Germany

Antihypertensive Therapy: Beta-Blockers and Diuretics—Why Do Physicians Not Always Follow Guidelines?

The most recent reports of the Joint National Committee (JNC VI) and the World Health Organization recommend beta-blockers and diuretics as first-line therapy for uncomplicated essential hypertension (1, 2). Similar recommendations have been issued over the past few years by many authoritative sources and influential journals. These recommendations were supposedly based on multiple prospective randomized trials attesting that only beta-blockers and diuretics, both in monotherapy and in combination, reduced morbidity and mortality in hypertension. Ever since the Veterans Administration study in the 1970s (3), multiple and prospective randomized trials have documented that diuretic-based therapy reduces the risk of stroke and, to a lesser extent, of heart attacks and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. However, the data are much less convincing for beta-blockers (4). In fact, no trial has shown that lowering blood pressure with a beta-blocker reduces the risk of a heart attack or cardiovascular event in patients with essential hypertension compared with placebo. In contrast, several prospective studies are now available showing that blood pressure reduction with calcium antagonists diminishes cardiovascular morbidity and mortality and, at least in meta-analysis, all-cause mortality. Moreover, recent data showing that the long-term use of diuretics increases the risk of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) threw a shadow on the bright picture of diuretics as reducers of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in hypertension (5). Clearly, not all patients with essential hypertension are ideal candidates for long-term exposure to diuretic therapy. In the following, I present some caveats for the sweeping recommendations to use beta-blockers and diuretics as “preferred” antihypertensive therapy in the majority of patients.