Developmental reversals in false memory: Now you see them, now you don't!

A developmental reversal in false memory is the counterintuitive phenomenon of higher levels of false memory in older children, adolescents, and adults than in younger children. The ability of verbatim memory to suppress this age trend in false memory was evaluated using the Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm. Seven and 11-year-old children studied DRM lists either in a standard condition (whole words) that normally produces high levels of false memory or in an alternative condition that should enhance verbatim memory (word fragments). Half the children took 1 recognition test, and the other half took 3 recognition tests. In the single-test condition, the typical age difference in false memory was found for the word condition (higher false memory for 11-year-olds than for 7-year-olds), but in the word fragment condition false memory was lower in the older children. In the word condition, false memory increased over successive recognition tests. Our findings are consistent with 2 principles of fuzzy-trace theory's explanation of false memories: (a) reliance on verbatim rather than gist memory causes such errors to decline with age, and (b) repeated testing increases reliance on gist memory in older children and adults who spontaneously connect meaning across events. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Accuracy of memory reference traces of parallel computations intrace-drive simulation

For given input the global trace generated by a parallel program in a shared memory multiprocessing environment may change as the memory architecture, and management policies change. A method is proposed for ensuring that a correct global trace is generated in the new environment. This method involves a new characterization of a parallel program that identifies its address change points and address affecting points. An extension of traditional process traces, called the intrinsic trace of each process, is developed. The intrinsic traces maximize the decoupling of program execution from simulation by describing the address flow graph and path expressions of each process program. At each point where an address is issued, the trace-driven simulator uses the intrinsic traces and the sequence of loads and stores before the current cycle, to determine the next address. The mapping between load and store sequences and next addresses to issue, sometimes, requires partial program reexecution. Programs that do not require partial program reexecution are called graph-traceable     

A new structural parameter of polymers–the relative number of network bonds per unit volume

In this paper we define a new structural parameter of polymers, and show how this may be employed. This parameter, for which only the structure and the density are needed, is the relative number of network bonds per unit volume; it is written N_er (basis 1 cm³), and it is used in conjunction with the average connectivity or connection number CN of the network atoms, where the word connection also refers only to network bonds. The relationship of these two numbers makes it possible to present a unified picture of all polymers, organic and inorganic, including such highly condensed networks as diamond. By plotting N_er against CN, the region in which inorganic and organic polymers occur can be seen. This is called the polymer zone, and it is evident that carbon polymers occupy only a small part of it. From this graph, an arbitrary measure of bond packing efficiency can be deduced for carbon polymers. In addition, the process of graphitization and carbonization can be followed graphically within the polymer zone. N_er is also related to certain physical properties such as bulk modulus, hardness, and cubical coefficient of expansion, which depend (among other things) on the tightness of bond arrangement. The resultant correlations can be used to predict the value of N_er required to achieve given values of these properties for the more rigid structures.     

Efficacy of chemical treatments in eliminating Salmonella and Escherichia coli O157:H7 on scarified and polished alfalfa seeds

Alfalfa seeds are sometimes subjected to a scarification treatment to enhance water uptake, which results in more rapid and uniform germination during sprout production. It has been hypothesized that this mechanical abrasion treatment diminishes the efficacy of chemical treatments used to kill or remove pathogenic bacteria from seeds. A study was done to compare the effectiveness of chlorine (20,000 ppm), H2O, (8%), Ca(OH)2 (1%), Ca(OH)2 (1%) plus Tween 80 (1%), and Ca(OH)2 (1%) plus Span 20 (1%) treatments in killing Salmonella and Escherichia coli O157:H7 inoculated onto control, scarified, and polished alfalfa seeds obtained from two suppliers. The influence of the presence of organic material in the inoculum carrier on the efficacy of sanitizers was investigated. Overall, treatment with 1% Ca(OH)2 was the most effective in reducing populations of the pathogens. Reduction in populations of pathogens on seeds obtained from supplier I indicate that chemical treatments are less efficacious in eliminating the pathogens on scarified seeds compared to control seeds. However, the effectiveness of chemical treatment in removing Salmonella and E. coli O157:H7 from seeds obtained from supplier 2 was not markedly affected by scarification or polishing. The presence of organic material in the inoculum carrier did not have a marked influence on the efficacy of chemicals in reducing populations of test pathogens. Additional lots of control, scarified, and polished alfalfa seeds of additional varieties need to be tested before conclusions can be drawn concerning the impact of mechanical abrasion on the efficacy of chemical treatment in removing or killing Salmonella and E. coli O157:H7.     

Synthesis and characterization of zirconia-magnesia inert matrix fuel: Uranium homolog studies

X-ray powder diffraction, X-ray fluorescence, microscopy, X-ray absorption fine structure, and electron probe microanalysis were used to characterize ZrO₂-MgO inert matrix fuel containing UO₂ (as a fissile element and a Pu homolog) and Er₂O₃ as a burnable poison. A large composition range of MgO and ZrO₂ was evaluated to determine total concentrations, local environment, phases present, phase mixing, and phase composition. It was found that most compositions of the material consist of two phases: MgO (periclase) and ZrO₂ (cubic zirconia). The zirconia phase incorporates up to 5% (wt/wt) MgO and up to 20% and 10% (wt/wt) UO₂ and Er₂O₃ respectively. This allows the fissile material and burnable poison to be incorporated into the zirconia crystal structure and defines the limits of this isomorphic substitution. The bond deformation due to the isomorphic substitution of uranium was determined by X-ray absorption fine structure. The MgO phase remains pure, which will enable design optimization of the overall thermophysical properties of the inert matrix fuel in regard to thermal diffusivity and thermal conductivity. This characterization data will be used in future studies to correlate the dissolution behavior of inert matrix material containing plutonium.     

THE EFFECT OF HOP SUBSTANCES ON THE PRODUCTION OF FUSEL OIL

Unhopped beers contain more fusel oils than the corresponding normally hopped beers when certain strains of yeasts are used during fermentation. Water soluble fractions of hops and some soft resin constituents can influence fusel oil production. When hops are completely replaced by isomerized hop extracts the use of some additional hop fraction in the copper leads to the resulting beer having a similar fusel oil content to one hopped in the usual way. Partially hopped beers (0·25 lb./brl.) usually have similar fusel oil contents to beers produced using the normal quantity of hops (1·0 lb./brl.).