Requirements for nuclear energy in the 21st century nuclear energy as a sustainable energy source

Nuclear energy must compete against other energy technologies in the 21st century. It must be economical and it must be proven that it fulfills the conditions for sutainability. This means that the requirements of — no short term depletion of resources — extremely low emission of noxious or radioactive substances to the environment — extremely low release of radioactivity from a nuclear plant in case of the most severe accidents and — the present very long term problem of high active waste must be transformed into a few hundred years problem through destruction of plutonium, transmutation of the minor actinides and the most important very long lived fission products.     

The partial testing design: a less costly way to test equivalence for sensitivity and specificity

We propose a new, less costly, design to test the equivalence of digital versus analogue mammography in terms of sensitivity and specificity. Because breast cancer is a rare event among asymptomatic women, the sample size for testing equivalence of sensitivity is larger than that for testing equivalence of specificity. Hence calculations of sample size are based on sensitivity. With the proposed design it is possible to achieve the same power as a completely paired design by increasing the number of less costly analogue mammograms and not giving the more expensive digital mammograms to some randomly selected subjects who are negative on the analogue mammogram. The key idea is that subjects who are negative on the analogue mammogram are unlikely to have cancer and hence contribute less information for estimating sensitivity than subjects who are positive on the analogue mammogram. To ascertain disease state among subjects not biopsied, we propose another analogue mammogram at a later time determined by a natural history model. The design differs from a double sampling design because it compares two imperfect tests instead of combining information from a perfect and imperfect test.     

Patterns of DSM-III-R alcohol dependence symptom progression in a general population survey

Age of onset reports obtained retrospectively for each symptom of DSM-III-R alcohol dependence (AD) are used to study patterns of lifetime symptom progression in a large general-population survey of people in the United States. It is shown that symptom progression among a substantial majority of respondents can be summarized as movement across three clusters. Cluster A is defined by symptoms of role impairment/hazardous use (A4), use despite social, psychological or physical problems (A6), and drinking larger amounts or over a longer period of time than intended (A1). Cluster B is defined by tolerance (A7) and impaired control (A2, A3). Cluster C is defined by withdrawal (A8, A9) and giving up activities in order to drink (A5). Clusters are shown to follow a time sequence, with at least one symptom in Cluster A usually occurring first, followed by symptoms in Clusters B and C. In all, 83.4% of the symptom cluster transitions estimated from retrospective age of onset reports are consistent with this progression. Progression to AD is differentially predicted by symptom profiles reported at the age of first symptom onset, with persons reporting Cluster C symptoms most likely to progress subsequently to AD. Furthermore, profiles of AD defined by the highest symptom cluster present at AD onset are differentially predicted by prior personal and parental histories of psychopathology and, among men, are predictive of diagnosis persistence.     

Activity of two lignin biosynthesis enzymes during development of a maize internode

To ascertain the temporal relationships of phcnylpropanoid and lignin pathway enzymes, phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) and cinnamyl alcohol- NADPH dehydrogenase(CAD), with lignin concentration, PAL and CAD activities and lignin concentrations were assessed during progressive development of the 10th internode in maize (Zea mays L). Enzyme activities were quantified and lignin concentrations were determined by the detergent system of fiber fractiona- tion from lower, middle, and upper sections of the elongating internode harvested 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, and 15 days after the internode had reached 10 mm in length. Over 15 days, a coordinated, sequential, and basipetal pattern of enzyme activities and lignin accumulation evolved through the internode, spanning the stages of rapid elongation, cellular differentiation, and secondary cell wall formation. PAL activity was initiated first, rising to peak activity in elongating tissue, and falling basipetally in tissues as they matured. CAD activity rose in fully elongated, maturing internode tissue where PAL activity was waning following its peak activity. Lignin accumulated in tissues with high CAD activity. CAD activity and lignin deposition patterns were similar: simultaneously increasing in activity and deposition over time while activity and deposition also shifting basipetally through the internode, keeping pace with secondary cell wall formation. Lignin concentration correlated significantly with CAD, but not with PAL.     

The relationship between age and depressive symptoms in two national surveys.

There is inconsistency in the literature on the relationship between age and depressive symptoms. Although a careful review shows that some of this inconsistency can be reconciled by recognizing the nonlinear relationship (J. P. Newmann, 1989), 2 additional issues remain unclear. One is that most previous studies used depression screening scales that contain somatic items that could introduce an age bias. The other is that most previous studies combined samples of men and women even though there is evidence that the sex difference in depressive symptoms varies with age. These 2 issues are addressed in this article, using analyzed data from 2 large national surveys. There is a consistent, but quite modest, nonlinear association between age, somatic, and nonsomatic depressive symptoms in both surveys. There is no significant sex difference in the age curves. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

All updateable objects in working memory are updated whenever any of them are modified: Evidence from the memory updating paradigm.

In a series of experiments, participants were required to keep track of 1 or 2 working memory (WM) objects, having to update their values in 80% of the trials. Updating cost, defined as the difference between update and non-update trials, was larger when 2 objects were involved compared with when there was only 1 object was involved. This finding was interpreted as evidence that the updating process encompasses both objects in WM, even though only 1 of them is actually updated. This feature of WM updating is limited to objects defined as "updateable," throughout the trial sequence. The results are explained by the need to reprogram the phonological loop when updating or the need for desynchronization followed by resynchronization of WM contents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

用于部件检验的快速声学方法——一种测量外购部件内的关键材料性能的新技术。

传统上．声学显微镜用于寻找组件中的分层等内部缺陷。现在．它们被用作快速的材料表征工具来检验外购部件。这类检验是供应链管理的重要内容．对于任何组装公司都非常关键．尤其是无晶圆厂设计公司（fabless）。