One observes that a considerable level of confusion remains about some of those aspects of irreversibility, entropy generation and ‘the arrow of time’ which actually are well understood. This demands that great care must be taken in any discussion of irreversibility to use clear-cut notions and precise language in order to be definite about which property follows from which assumption. In this ...

There is a widespread assumption that science and religion are incompatible with each other; it may be acceptable for a scientist to practise religion, but--it is believed--this should be seen as despite, not because of his or her scientific profession and knowledge. Such an assumption is wrong. Examination of conflicts between science and religion (such as those about evolution) show that they...

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a frequent, tenacious, and disabling consequence of traumatic events. The disorder's identifiable onset and early symptoms provide opportunities for early detection and prevention. Empirical findings and theoretical models have outlined specific risk factors and pathogenic processes leading to PTSD. Controlled studies have shown that theory-driven preven...

The complete amino acid sequence of chicken skeletal-muscle enolase, comprising 433 residues, was determined. The sequence was deduced by automated sequencing of hydroxylamine-cleavage, CNBr-cleavage, o-iodosobenzoic acid-cleavage, clostripain-digest and staphylococcal-proteinase-digest fragments. The presence of several acid-labile peptide bonds and the tenacious aggregation of most CNBr-cleav...

N-acetyl cysteine (NAC), as a nutritional supplement, is a greatly applied antioxidant in vivo and in vitro. NAC is a precursor of L-cysteine that results in glutathione elevation biosynthesis. It acts directly as a scavenger of free radicals, especially oxygen radicals. NAC is a powerful antioxidant. It is also recommended as a potential treatment option for different disorders resulted from g...

Situations that present individuals with a conflict between local and global gains often evoke a behavioral pattern known as melioration — a preference for immediate rewards over higher long-term gains. Using a variant of a binary forcedchoice paradigm by Tunney & Shanks (2002), we explored the potential role of global feedback as a means to reduce this bias. We hypothesized that frequent expli...

The purpose of this paper is to take some of the mystery out of what is known as nonmonotonic logic, by showing that it is not as unfamiliar as may at first sight appear. In fact, it is easily accessible to anybody with a background in classical propositional logic, provided that certain misunderstandings are avoided and a tenacious habit is put aside. In effect, there are logics that act as na...

Development of an effective vaccine against human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a need of utmost medical importance. Generally, it is believed that a live attenuated vaccine would best provide protective immunity against this tenacious pathogen. Here, we propose a strategy for an HCMV vaccine that aims at the simultaneous activation of innate and adaptive immune responses. An HCMV strain expressing...

This paper investigates the effects of surface modification of zinc borate ultrafine powders (ZB UFPs) on their tribological properties as lubricant additives in liquid paraffin (LP). ZB UFPs were successfully modified by hexadecyltrimethoxysilane (HDTMOS) and oleic acid (OA). It is evident that HDTMOS modified zinc borate ultrafine powder (HDTMOS-ZB UFP) delivered a small conglomerate size, go...