The role of perspective in the accessibility of goals during reading.

An implicit assumption of several causal reasoning models is that readers adopt the goals of a narrative's protagonist during text comprehension. In apparent violation of this assumption, readers participating in Experiment 1 of the present study drew inferences relevant to a protagonist's goal even when that goal was already satisfied from the perspective of the protagonist. In Experiments 2 and 3, participants were explicitly asked to view the text situation from the point of view of the protagonist. In this case, the goals of the reader and the protagonist should be the same. In these experiments, participants focused on the goals of the protagonist only when those goals had not been satisfied from the perspective of the protagonist. These results are discussed in terms of reader- and character-based perspectives and in terms of text characteristics that cue perspective taking. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ubiquitin expression in inclusion body myositis. An immunohistochemical study

Ubiquitin has been shown by immunohistochemical studies to be a component of many of the filamentous inclusion bodies that are known in neuropathology. In the current study, we examined the expression of ubiquitin in 14 cases of typical inclusion body myositis, in skeletal muscle specimens from four cases of typical amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and in muscle specimens from three normal controls. In the cases of inclusion body myositis, rimmed vacuoles were ubiquitin immunoreactive in all cases. Intrasarcoplasmic inclusions were positive in the nine cases that had them. In four cases, there were positive intranuclear inclusions, and in seven, there was homogeneous staining of nuclei. Atrophic fibers and necrotic fibers were positive in 11 and nine cases, respectively. In the cases of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, atrophic fibers were positive in three cases, and focal nuclear staining was seen in two. In one of the three control cases, a few atrophic fibers had faint sarcoplasmic positivity; no other staining was seen. We conclude that ubiquitin is a component of the inclusions that characterize inclusion body myositis. However, ubiquitin expression in skeletal muscle disease is not pathognomonic of inclusion body myositis.     

Maintaining global coherence during reading.

Previous research demonstrated a contradiction effect: Although text currently being processed was locally coherent, readers were aware of inconsistencies between a protagonist's actions and characteristics of the protagonists that were described earlier in the text and subsequently backgrounded. In the present experiments, not only the critical characteristics but also the protagonist were backgrounded. When the protagonist was reintroduced into the narrative in the context of carrying out an inconsistent action, the contradiction effect again occurred. In Exps 1–3, we examined the effects of several variables on the onset of the effect. In Exp 4, we presented probes at various points in the passage with results that supported the conclusion that the critical characteristics had been backgrounded before the sentence that contradicted them. Results are discussed in terms of several recent models in which currently active representational elements serve as retrieval cues for other inactive, but highly related, elements. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Tunable TE/TM-mode converter on (001)-InP-substrate

The use of a two-dimensional finite difference simulation technique to determine optimal design parameters for the fabrication of TE/TM-mode converters on (001) InP substrate is discussed. Based on design rules extracted from the calculations, a tunable device for an operating wavelength of 1.56 μm has been fabricated and polarization conversion of 45°, suitable for operation in a polarization diversity network has been achieved at an effective voltage of 32 V     

A 10 Gbit/s OEIC photoreceiver using InP/InGaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors

Metal organic molecular beam epitaxy (MOMBE) was successfully used for the first time to realise a high speed monolithic photoreceiver. Incorporating an InGaAs pin photodetector followed by a transimpedance preamplifier circuit implemented with InP/InGaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs), the OEIC photoreceiver had a bandwidth of 6 GHz and a midband transimpedance of 350 Omega . In a system experiment performed at 10 Gbit/s, the receiver exhibited a sensitivity of -15.5 dBm for a bit error rate of 10/sup -9/ at a wavelength of 1.53 mu m. This is the first demonstration of operation of a long wavelength OEIC photoreceiver at this speed.<>     

8-Gbit/s transmission experiment over 68 km of optical fiber using a Ti:LiNbO3external modulator

We describe the performance of an experimental 1.5-μm lightwave transmission system operating at 8 Gbit/s over 68.3 km of single-mode fiber. The dispersion penalty is limited to 1 dB through the use of external modulation and is attributable to the intrinsic information bandwidth.     

The effect of different protein diets on longevity and various biochemical parameters of aged rats]

In this work 23 month old rats were fed for 200 days with different protein diets (NT-diet: 19% protein, 72% of animal origin and LP-diet: 8.8% protein exclusively of vegetable origin). Some metabolic parameters and lifespan (on the base of a 50% death-rate) were determined. The relations of the liver free amino acids glycine + alanine and tyrosine + phenylalanine + branched chain amino acids and the ratio of phenylalanine/tyrosine were determined to be higher in the LP-group. Phenylalanine in liver and urea concentrations in liver and serum were lower in the LP-group. Furthermore the dopamine or serotonin levels were significantly lower in lateral and medial or lateral regions of the hypothalamus respectively in LP-diet fed rats. The norepinephrine content was not modified by the diets. The median lifespan of 23 month old rats was higher by 24% following LP-treatment. These results suggest that the protein component (amino acids) of different diets may modify metabolic parameters and lifespan of animals by mechanisms in which the central regulation may be involved.     

A transimpedance APD optical receiver operating at 10 Gb/s

The authors report an optical receiver which uses a separate-absorption-and-multiplication avalanche photodiode (SAM-APD) to achieve high sensitivity at a bit rate of 10 Gb/s. A transimpedance front end incorporating HEMT devices is used for high bandwidth and low noise. The sensitivity (bit-error rate of 10^-9) is -28.7 dBm for a return-to-zero signal, and -27.0 dBm for a nonreturn-to-zero signal     

Metabolic factors have a major impact on kidney allograft survival

BACKGROUND: At the present time, late graft loss is the major cause of kidney failure after transplantation. However, the influence of metabolic factors on this process is ill-defined. METHODS: To identify the impact of lipid metabolism, glucose metabolism, and blood pressure and their prognostic value for graft survival, data for all recipients of a kidney allograft with a potential graft survival of >15 years and a minimum graft survival of 1 month were analyzed retrospectively. Recipients of kidney grafts functioning more than 15 years (n=32) were compared with those with a graft function of less than 10 years (n=152, controls) and evaluated in a multivariate analysis. RESULTS: Low levels of serum cholesterol, triglycerides, and glucose, before and after transplantation, were accompanied by a prolonged graft survival. Prognostic factors for early graft failure included serum triglycerides >300 mg/dl, cholesterol >250 mg/dl before transplantation, serum creatinine >4.0 mg/dl 1 month after transplantation, and donor age above 45 or less than 10 years. Additionally, systolic and, particularly, diastolic blood pressure was lower in the group with a prolonged graft function as compared with controls immediately before and after transplantation. In addition, the incidence of primary graft function was lower and the incidence of acute rejection episodes higher in controls. Cold and warm ischemic time, body mass index, recipient age, and gender did not differ significantly. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that metabolic parameters play an important role in the process of late graft loss after kidney transplantation.