Improved electrophoretic methods for identifying cereal varieties

Several electrophorectic methods are compared in terms of their reliability, convenience and ability to distinguish between varieties of wheat, barley, rye and triticale using proteins extracted from the endosperm with 1M urea. Gradient gel electrophoresis offers an improvement, particularly in convenience, over the use of starch gels and uniform-pore polyacrylamide. Varietal identification is described using gels having gradients in polyacrylamide concentration of 3-27% or 2-16%, both being available commercially ready for use. Electrophoresis in the latter gels at 400 V takes only half an hour for barley and an hour for wheat. In addition, a simple procedure is described for gel isoelectric focusing which, used alone or in combination with gel electrophoresis, provides high resolution of endosperm proteins for distinguishing between closely related varieties.     

Encoding of instruments when 10- to 14-year-olds process isolated instrument-implicit sentences: More evidence of improved encoding during childhood resulting from elaborative instructions.

Examined whether 10- to 14-yr-olds infer implied instruments when reading isolated instrument-implicit sentences (IISs; e.g., Her friend swept the floor) as certainly and completely as they do when instructed to generate instruments in response to IISs. On-line instrumental encoding was tested with a procedure that was based on recognition priming of instrument words given some of the letters from the words (i.e., a word fragment). When children read the IISs without instruction to infer the implied instruments, the instrument fragment completion rates were low and less than when inference generation was required or instruments were stated during reading. Children's spontaneous instrumental inferences are less certain than suggested in previous research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Synthesis and characterization of epoxidized phenolic novolacs modified by furfuryl alcohol

The possibility of reacting furfuryl alcohol with the p-position of phenolic rings, under acid conditions, was proved using different experimental techniques: size exclusion chromatography, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and ¹³C NMR. This reaction was then used in the modification of phenolic novolacs with furfuryl alcohol. After reaction with epichlorohydrin, epoxidized phenolic novolacs (EPN) modified with furan rings were obtained. They could be cured with aromatic diamines in a similar way to conventional EPNs. The presence of furan rings should improve burning resistance and smoke emission characteristics of the resulting networks.     

The use of an algorithmic method for small molecule superimpositions in the design of antiviral agents

The new American Association on Mental Retardation (AAMR) definition of mental retardation (Luckasson et al., 1992) represents a radical departure from previous definitions. In the present paper we examined the extent to which the new definition provides decision rules to guide clinicians and researchers in classification efforts. We concluded that the IQ criterion of 75 will increase the proportion of the general population eligible near the cut-off score. Moreover, the 10 adaptive skill areas adopted fail to consider developmental factors and cannot be assessed reliably with current scales. Proposed differentiation by levels of needed supports is also challenged as being imprecise and not amenable to reliable measurement. Implications of this new definition for diagnostic practices and research endeavors were explored.     

Personality and interpersonal predictors of loneliness in two cultures.

Administered measures of loneliness and relevant personality and interpersonal constructs to 259 mainland US and 332 Puerto Rican undergraduates to (a) assess cross-cultural variability in previously reported correlates of loneliness and (b) determine the relative contributions of such predictors to the experience of loneliness for each sample. Results show that the Puerto Rican sample reported greater loneliness, and most personality and interpersonal variables yielded differences between the groups. However, the correlates of loneliness appeared to be quite similar for both samples. Factor analyses of loneliness correlates yielded interpretable factors that preserved the ability of the original variables to predict loneliness. Data are consistent with the hypothesis that culture influences the specific values observed for personality and related measures, whereas the fundamental organization of personality remains stable across cultures. Cultural factors are discussed as possible explanations for the few group differences found with respect to predictors of loneliness. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cerebellar involvement in eyeblink classical conditioning in humans.

The role of the ipsilateral cerebellum in human eyeblink conditioning was investigated using the 400-ms delay paradigm and testing 14 cerebellar patients (7 with unilateral lesions and 7 with bilateral lesions) and 20 control participants. Patients performed significantly worse with the ipsilesional eye than control participants but showed no difference when tested with the contralesional eye. Conditioned responses (CRs) totaled 14% for all patients in comparison with 60% for control participants. Data on timed-interval tapping for 6 patients and 14 control participants showed that clock variability was greater with the ipsilesional hand in patients. Only clock variability correlated significantly with percentage of CRs in control participants. Comparisons of paired associate learning and memory for 8 patients and 14 control participants revealed no significant differences. Results confirm that the ipsilateral cerebellum plays a role in eyeblink classical conditioning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Concurrent eyeblink classical conditioning and rotary pursuit performance: Implications for independent nondeclarative memory systems.

The authors examined whether 2 nondeclarative tasks, simple eyeblink classical conditioning (EBCC) and rotary pursuit (RP), would interfere with each other when performed simultaneously. In Experiment 1, 100 participants were assigned to 1 of 5 groups: paired EBCC/RP, unpaired EBCC/RP, paired EBCC as a single task, unpaired EBCC as a single task, and RP as a single task. Participants in the paired EBCC/RP group showed significantly greater acquisition of conditioned responses than did participants in the unpaired EBCC/RP group, and the unconditioned eyeblink response was similar in both groups. Comparisons of the paired EBCC/RP and paired EBCC-as-a-single-task groups indicated no differences in trials to criterion, but on some measures the single-task group conditioned better. Controls introduced in Experiment 2 did not change this pattern. Results provide some evidence for the lack of interference between EBCC and RP. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adolescent sexuality: Comment on Williams' and Silka's comments on Baumrind.

Responds to comments by L. Silka (see record 1982-30189-001) and P. Williams (see record 1982-30129-001) on D. Baumrind's (see record 1982-01029-001) article on teenage pregnancy, reemphasizing that the public health problems presented by teenage abortion and birthrate mandate a return to a less permissive type of sex education in the schools and an increase in social sanctions for irresponsible parenthood. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Concurrent validity of the Minnesota Child Development Inventory in a nonclinical sample.

Investigated the criterion-related validity of the Minnesota Child Development Inventory (MCDI) in 103 30-mo-olds. Results show that (a) MCDI scales correlated with cognitive but not motor development as measured by the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities and (b) the MCDI accurately identified Ss performing below normal in general cognitive development. Findings demonstrate that the MCDI is a valid and clinically useful cognitive developmental screening instrument for preschoolers in the general population. (2 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)