Transfer of fluency across repetitions and across texts.

Three experiments examined transfer of reading fluency across repeated readings of the same text and across related but different texts with a total of 102 college students. In Exp 1, it was found that a paraphrase that altered the syntactic structure of sentences but not the lexical identity of main concepts or the unfolding of the message was reprocessed as an unchanged repetition. However, when the paraphrase altered the lexical identity of main concepts, there was a loss in the repetition benefit. In Exps 2 and 3, there was transfer from a representation of 1 text to the reading of a 2nd text only if the messages were continuous. Results are discussed in terms of the influence of episodic text representations on reading fluency. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Estimating the viewing parameters of random, noisy projections ofasymmetric objects for tomographic reconstruction

The ability to determine the viewing parameters of objects from their projections has enabled well established tomographic techniques to be employed in the 3D reconstruction of objects from images obtained via modalities where the orientation of the objects cannot be controlled. A method is described for the determination of the viewing parameters of randomly acquired projections of asymmetric objects. It extends upon the common lines algorithm by determining the relative orientation of projections from the location of lines of intersection among the Fourier transforms of the projections in 3D Fourier space. A new technique for finding the lines of intersection in the presence of translational displacement, and for subsequently finding the translational displacement, is presented. The complete algorithm is described and its efficacy is demonstrated using real data. A new technique for dealing with noise is also discussed     

Attributional style and depressive symptoms among children.

The reformulation of helplessness theory proposes that an insidious attributional style accompanies and predisposes depressive symptoms. The present study investigated predictions of the reformulation among 96 8–13 yr olds who completed the Children's Attributional Style Questionnaire (ASQ) and Children's Depression Inventory twice, 6 mo apart. 83 of their parents completed the adult ASQ and the Beck Depression Inventory at their children's 2nd testing. Children who attributed bad events to internal, stable, and global causes were more likely to report depressive symptoms than were children who attributed these events to external, unstable, and specific causes. This depressive attributional style predicted depressive symptoms 6 mo later, suggesting that it may be a risk factor for depression. Children's attributional style for bad events and their depressive symptoms converged with those of their mothers but not their fathers. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of prior knowledge on good and poor readers' memory of text.

We investigated how prior knowledge influences the amount of short-term nonverbal and verbal memory and long-term retention in students of high and low ability in reading comprehension. Sixty-four junior high students were divided into four equal-sized groups on the basis of preassessed reading ability (high and low) and preassessed amount of existing prior knowledge about baseball (high and low). Each subject silently read an account of a half inning of a baseball game. After reading, each subject recalled the account nonverbally by moving figures and verbally by retelling the story. After an interpolated task, they summarized the game and sorted passage sentences for idea importance. There was a significant main effect for prior knowledge on all measures. No interactions between prior knowledge and ability were found. These results delineate the powerful effect of prior knowledge. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Temporal contrast and the word frequency effect.

Studied the word frequency effect in recall and recognition under 3 list structures: (a) homogeneous rare or common nouns, (b) mixed alternating frequencies, and (c) mixed blocked frequencies. Exp I with 96 undergraduates found that the number of frequency contrasts within a list had a clear effect on recall and little effect on recognition. Recall of rare items was poor in a homogeneous list, equal to common items in a blocked list, and better than common items when in a list of alternating frequencies. Exp II with 48 Ss examined the reversed frequency effect of the alternating list under overt and covert rehearsal conditions across 3 trials. Under overt rehearsal there was no significant difference in number of rehearsals of rare and common items. The superior recall of rare items present on Trial 1 decreased across trials supporting a stimulus change-contrast interpretation of the effect of mixed frequency items in free recall. (French summary) (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personal hypothesis testing: The role of consistency and self-schema.

We report the results of two experiments that examined the way individuals test hypotheses about themselves. Both experiments were based on the work of Snyder (e.g., Snyder, 1981; Snyder & Skrypnek, 1981), which suggests that individuals have a confirmatory bias when testing hypotheses about others and about themselves. In Experiment 1, we examined the extent to which this bias toward confirmation persists when a negative (e.g., depression) or nonconsistent (not consistent with the individual's evaluation of him- or herself) personal hypothesis is tested. Results suggest that the negative or positive nature of a personal hypothesis does not directly influence the way individuals test their hypothesis. However, the way individuals tested personal hypotheses was influenced by hypothesis consistency. In Experiment 2, we examined the relation of a cognitive schematic variable (i.e., vulnerability for depression) and hypothesis testing. Results suggest that vulnerability is related to the way individuals test a personal hypothesis about depression. Vulnerable, low-depression participants were confirmatory when testing a depression hypothesis, whereas nonvulnerable, low-depression participants were disconfirmatory. We discuss implications for counseling and future directions for research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The design of Radiation Accident Registry

In order to provide effective monitoring and follow-up on the health effects of individuals accidentally exposed to ionising radiation, a Radiation Accident Registry (RAR) has been designed and constructed as an extension to the existing National Dose Registry (NDR). The RAR has basic functions of recording, monitoring and reporting. This type of registry is able to assist responders in preparing for and managing situations during radiological events and in providing effective follow-up on the long-term health effects of persons exposed to ionising radiation. It is especially important to register radiation-exposed people in vulnerable population groups, such as children and pregnant women, to ensure proper long-term health care and protection. Even though radiation accidents are rare, a registry prepared for such accidents could involve a large population and, in some cases, require lifetime monitoring for individuals. One of the most challenging tasks associated with RAR is the assessment of radiation dose resulting from accidents. In some cases, the assessment of radiation doses to individuals could be a process requiring the involvement of various methods. The development of fast and accurate dose assessment tools will remain a long-term challenge associated with the RAR. To meet this challenge, further research activities in radiation dosimetry for individual monitoring are needed.     

Nucleation and growth of elastin-like peptide fibril multilayers: an in situ atomic force microscopy study

Controlling how molecules assemble into complex supramolecular architectures requires careful consideration of the subtle inter-?and intra-molecular interactions that control their association. This is particularly crucial in the context of assembly at interfaces, where both surface chemistry and structure can play a role in directing structure formation. We report here the results of a study into the self-assembly of the elastin-like peptide EP I on structurally modified highly ordered pyrolytic graphite, including the role of spatial confinement on fibril nucleation and the growth of oriented fibril multilayers. In situ atomic force microscopy performed in fluid and at elevated temperature provided direct evidence of frustrated fibril nuclei and oriented growth of independent fibril domains. These results portend the application of this in situ strategy for studies of the nucleation and growth mechanisms of other fibril-?and amyloid-forming proteins.