Behavioral therapy: its application to reduce disruptive behaviors of the elderly in nursing homes

Nurses who care for the elderly in nursing homes and auxiliary hospitals have many goals. They provide for the health, recreational, social and emotional needs of their patients. They also strive to increase their patients' levels of self-care and self-respect. Unfortunately, because many patients exhibit disruptive behaviors--striking staff or other patients, throwing temper tantrums, lying on the floor in corridors, refusing to take medication and so on, these desirable goals cannot always be met. What nurses need, in addition to their specialized, medically oriented training, is training in a consistent strategy for handling these problems. Behavioral therapy provides this strategy.     

Chemical cues identify gender and individuality in Giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca)

The Giant panda communicates with conspecifics by depositing a mixture of volatile compounds (called scent marks) on trees and rocks. Using mass spectrometry, we identified 951 chemical components from scent glands, urine, vaginal secretions, and scent marks made by pandas. The scent marks of the two genders contained a similar array of chemicals but varied in concentration; specifically, males possessed a significantly greater amount of short chain fatty acids (F(1, 29) = 18.4, P = 0.002). Using stepwise discriminate analysis on the relative proportions of a subset of these chemicals, it was possible to classify gender (94% for males and females) and individuality (81% for males and 91% for females) from scent marks. The power to identify individual males was reduced due to the relatedness of two subjects. By cracking the identity code of Giant panda communication, we show insights into how these animals can match individuals with unique chemical profiles. Since radiocollaring is currently banned in China, the techniques described in this paper give field biologists a new means to identify and track pandas in the wild.     

THE MANY ORIGINS OF NATURAL GAS

Thermodynamic calculations for the C-O-S-Hsystem indicate that at a fixed oxygen fugacity methane is in a stable phase relative to carbon dioxide at high pressures and low temperatures. At a constant temperature and pressure, methane is favored at low oxygen fugacities. Volcanic gases and near-surface igneous rocks exhibit high values of oxygen fugacity. However, direct measurement of the oxygen fugacity of spinels from peridotites of deep origin indicate that the oxygen fugacity of these rocks is low, corresponding to an iron-wüstite buffer. The relative abundance of the carbon isotopes C¹² and C¹³ varies widely in natural gases. Methane formed by bacterial fermentation is highly enriched in the lighter isotope, while methane from deep deposits is much less so as is the methane flowing from hydrothermal vents on the East Pacific Rise. Except in extreme cases, the carbon isotope ratio cannot be used alone to assess whether methane is biogenic or abiogenic. The carbon isotope ratio in coexisting methane and carbon dioxide can be used to estimate the temperature at which the two gases came into isotopic equilibrium. This ratio indicates a high temperature of equilibration for a number of gas deposits. The carbon and helium isotope ratios together with their geologic settings are strongly suggestive that the large quantities of methane in Lake Kivu and the gases venting along the East Pacific Rise are abiogenic. Methane associated with the Red Sea brines and various geothermal areas may also be in part abiogenic. The high abundance of carbon in the Sun, the atmosphere of the outer planets, carbonaceous chondrites and comets, suggests that carbon may be more abundant in the Earth than it is in near-surface igneous rocks. Such a high abundance could lead to a progressive outgassing of methane at depth, which then is oxidized near the surface or in the atmosphere. Methane hydrates are stable at low temperatures and high pressures. Today, methane hydrates are found in areas of permafrost and in ocean sediments. Methane hydrates in ocean sediments were first formed about 20 mya (million years ago) when the Antarctic ice sheet reached sea level. Terrestrial methane hydrates formed more recently during the glaciations beginning 1.6 mya. Methane hydrates and trapped gas are probably abundant under the Antarctic ice sheet. The formation of methane hydrates may be related to the low values of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere some 20,000 years ago.     

Stoichiometric Engineering of Chalcogenide Semiconductor Alloys for Nanophotonic Applications

A variety of alternative plasmonic and dielectric material platforms—among them nitrides, semiconductors, and conductive oxides—have come to prominence in recent years as means to address the shortcomings of noble metals (including Joule losses, cost, and passive character) in certain nanophotonic and optical‐frequency metamaterial applications. Here, it is shown that chalcogenide semiconductor alloys offer a uniquely broad pallet of optical properties, complementary to those of existing material platforms, which can be controlled by stoichiometric design. Using combinatorial high‐throughput techniques, the extraordinary epsilon‐near‐zero, plasmonic, and low/high‐index characteristics of Bi:Sb:Te alloys are explored. Depending upon composition they can, for example, have plasmonic figures of merit higher than conductive oxides and nitrides across the entire UV–NIR range, and higher than gold below 550 nm; present dielectric figures of merit better than conductive oxides at near‐infrared telecommunications wavelengths; and exhibit record‐breaking refractive indices as low as 0.7 and as high as 11.5.     

新建联合循环发电锅炉的化学清洗

联合循环机组日益广泛应用于发电厂。与传统的燃煤机组相比 ,联合发电厂的设备及安装成本、发电效率高 ,而且对环境影响小。余热锅炉 ( HRSG)是联合循环机组的一个组成部分。虽然 HRSG的热负荷比传统锅炉低 [1] ,但锅炉水化学却很重要。因此 ,新建 HRSG的化学清洗一直受到关注。传统的新建锅炉中存在油脂 ,氧化皮及焊渣等 ,其化学清洗是为了除去这类杂质以保障机组的正常启动及运行。HRSG系统中存在类似的杂质 ,但 HRSG由两到三个压力不同的蒸汽发生回路所组成 (见图 1 ) ,化学清洗较为复杂。这种锅炉结构一般需要多步或扩大性化学…     

Luteinizing hormone response to pulsatile luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone in prepubertal heifers

The effects of 12 hourly 5-micrograms injections of luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone on luteinizing hormone release, were examined in 18 prepubertal Holstein heifers at 4, 7, or 10 mo of age. During a 6-h pretreatment period, mean serum luteinizing hormone concentrations and mean number of endogenous luteinizing hormone episodes per hour were not influenced by age. The 12-h treatment regimen induced a pulsatile release of luteinizing hormone in all heifers. The magnitude, pattern, and total amount of luteinizing hormone released were not influenced by age. However, in the 4 and 10-mo-old age groups, magnitude of luteinizing hormone response to the 3rd hourly injection of luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone was greater than the response to the second injection. Magnitudes of luteinizing hormone responses decreased with time after the 4th hourly injection through the 12th injection and patterns of decline appeared similar among the three age groups. The pituitary of the prepubertal dairy heifer is able to respond to an hourly pulsatile administration of luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone and this treatment regimen appears to produce a self-priming effect on luteinizing hormone release.     

Performance variability is related to change in cognition: Evidence from the Victoria Longitudinal Study.

Performance variability across repeated task administrations may be an important indicator of age-related cognitive functioning. In the present investigation, the authors examined whether age differences and change in inconsistency were related to 6-year (3 occasion) cognitive change. Inconsistency scores were computed from 4 reaction time tasks performed by 446 older adults (54-89 years). Replicating previous cross-sectional results, greater inconsistency was observed for older participants even after controlling for differences in response speed. New longitudinal results demonstrated (a) associations between inconsistency at baseline measurement and 6-year change in cognitive performance; (b) longitudinal change in inconsistency; and (c) intraindividual covariation between 6-year change in inconsistency and 6-year change in level of cognitive function. These findings support the view that performance variability serves as a marker of cognitive aging. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)