Age differences in personality across the adult life span: Parallels in five cultures.

Both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies in the United States have shown consistent changes between college age and middle adulthood. There appear to be declines in 3 of the 5 major factors of personality-Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Openness-and increases in Agreeableness and Conscientiousness. To examine cross-cultural generalizability of these findings, translations of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory were administered to samples in Germany, Italy, Portugal, Croatia, and South Korea (N?=?7,363). Similar patterns of age differences were seen in each country, for both men and women. Common trends were also seen for the more specific traits that define the major factors. Because these nations differ substantially in culture and recent history, results suggest the hypothesis that these are universal maturational changes in adult personality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A Linear Time Matrix Key Agreement Protocol Over Small Finite Fields

This note introduces Braid–Diffie–Hellman (BDH), a key agreement protocol employing matrices over small finite fields. The method employs colored Burau matrices and a refinement of a Diffie–Hellman type protocol. We discuss the security and examine performance parameters of BDH which permit linear time execution on platforms supporting basic algebraic primitives.     

Oxidation of Aqueous Paracetamol by Pulsed Corona Discharge

Oxidation of paracetamol in aqueous solution was studied by using pulsed corona discharge as a means for advanced oxidation. Pulse repetition frequency, the delivered energy dose, and oxidation media were the main parameters evaluated. The pulsed corona discharge treatment appeared to be effective in oxidation of paracetamol: complete degradation of target pollutant together with partial mineralization was achieved at moderate energy consumption; oxidation proceeds faster in alkaline media, the fastest oxidation rate was observed in oxygen-enriched air. Low-molecular carboxylic acids were identified as the products formed in the reaction.     

Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts Modify the Response of Prostate Cancer Cells to Androgen and Anti-Androgens in Three-Dimensional Spheroid Culture

Androgen receptor (AR) targeting remains the gold standard treatment for advanced prostate cancer (PCa); however, treatment resistance remains a major clinical problem. To study the therapeutic effects of clinically used anti-androgens we characterized herein a tissue-mimetic three-dimensional (3D) in vitro model whereby PCa cells were cultured alone or with PCa-associated fibroblasts (CAFs). Notably, the ratio of PCa cells to CAFs significantly increased in time in favor of the tumor cells within the spheroids strongly mimicking PCa in vivo. Despite this loss of CAFs, the stromal cells, which were not sensitive to androgen and even stimulated by the anti-androgens, significantly influenced the sensitivity of PCa cells to androgen and to the anti-androgens bicalutamide and enzalutamide. In particular, DuCaP cells lost sensitivity to enzalutamide when co-cultured with CAFs. In LAPC4/CAF and LNCaP/CAF co-culture spheroids the impact of the CAFs was less pronounced. In addition, 3D spheroids exhibited a significant increase in E-cadherin and substantial expression of vimentin in co-culture spheroids, whereas AR levels remained unchanged or even decreased. In LNCaP/CAF spheroids we further found increased Akt signaling that could be inhibited by the phosphatidyl-inositol 3 kinase (PI3K) inhibitor LY294002, thereby overcoming the anti-androgen resistance of the spheroids. Our data show that CAFs influence drug response of PCa cells with varying impact and further suggest this spheroid model is a valuable in vitro drug testing tool.     

Amythiamicin D and Related Thiopeptides as Inhibitors of the Bacterial Elongation Factor EF‐Tu: Modification of the Amino Acid at Carbon Atom C2 of Ring C Dramatically Influences Activity

Three analogues of amythiamicin D, which differ in the substitution pattern at the methine group adjacent to C2 of the thiazole ring C, were prepared by de novo total synthesis. In amythiamicin D, this carbon atom is (S)‐isopropyl substituted. Two of the new analogues carry a hydroxymethyl in place of the isopropyl group, one at an S‐ (compound 3 a ) and the other at an R‐configured stereogenic center ( 3 b ). The third analogue, 3 c , contains a benzyloxymethyl group at an S‐configured stereogenic center. Compounds 3 b and 3 c showed no inhibitory effect toward various bacterial strains, nor did they influence the translation of firefly luciferase. In stark contrast, compound 3 a inhibited the growth of Gram‐positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus (strains NCTC and Mu50) and Listeria monocytogenes EGD. In the firefly luciferase assay it proved more potent than amythiamicin D, and rescue experiments provided evidence that translation inhibition is due to binding to the bacterial elongation factor Tu (EF‐Tu). The results were rationalized by structural investigations and by molecular dynamics simulations of the free compounds in solution and bound to the EF‐Tu binding site. The low affinity of compound 3 b was attributed to the absence of a critical hydrogen bond, which stabilizes the conformation required for binding to EF‐Tu. Compound 3 c was shown not to comply with the binding properties of the binding site.     

Head Up Games: combining the best of both worlds by merging traditional and digital play

Current pervasive games are mostly location-aware applications, played on handheld computing devices. Considering pervasive games for children, it is argued that the interaction paradigm existing games support limits essential aspects of outdoor play like spontaneous social interaction, physical movement, and rich face-to-face communication. We present a new genre of pervasive games conceived to address this problem, that we call “Head Up Games” (HUGs) to underline that they liberate players from facing down to attend to screen-based interactions. The article discusses characteristics of HUG and relates them to existing genres of pervasive games. We present lessons learned during the design and evaluation of three HUG and chart future challenges.     

WorkPlan: Constraint-Based Database for Work Package Scheduling

A database program called WorkPlan has been created to systematically develop weekly work plans. Such work plans are used by crew foremen in scheduling work packages and allocating available labor and equipment resources. WorkPlan adopts the Last Planner methodology, which implements several lean construction techniques. A week prior to conducting work, WorkPlan guides the user step by step through the process of spelling out work packages, identifying constraints, checking constraint satisfaction, releasing work packages, and allocating resources; then at the end of the week, collecting field progress data and reasons for plan failure. This systematic approach helps the user create quality work plans and learn from understanding reasons for failure. The lean planning philosophy underlying WorkPlan and the functionality of the computer program implementation are detailed in this paper. Various ways of displaying work package data are illustrated. WorkPlan's job-shop scheduling view complements the view traditionally adopted by project management, as is reflected in scheduling tools using the critical-path method.     

Organic Sulfur Compounds from Dictyopteris spp. Deter Feeding by an Herbivorous Amphipod (Ampithoe longimana) but Not by an Herbivorous Sea Urchin (Arbacia punctulata)

Brown seaweeds in the genus Dictyopteris produce several C₁₁ sulfur metabolites that appear biosynthetically related to the C₁₁ compounds known to attract sperm to female gametes of many brown algae. All four of the C₁₁ sulfur compounds that we tested strongly deterred feeding by the amphipod Ampithoe longimana but had no effect on feeding by the sea urchin Arbacia punctulata, even when tested at concentrations that were two to eight times greater than those that deterred amphipods. In numerous previous investigations, a variety of seaweed compounds have been shown to deter feeding by large mobile herbivores such as fishes and urchins but to be relatively ineffective against mesograzers, such as the amphipod of our study. Our results for the C₁₁ sulfur compounds from Dictyopteris thus contrast sharply with patterns from previous studies and suggest that these metabolites may be defenses specifically targeted against small mesograzers such as amphipods. The occurrence of C₁₁ metabolites in brown algal eggs could allow these defenses to be especially important in defending gametes, zygotes, or young sporelings from herbivorous mesograzers.     

Surface characterization and adsorption abilities of cellulose fibers

The adsorption abilites of cotton cellulose fibers are very often modified by alkaline treatments in form of alkaline purification or mercerization using high concentration of NaOH. We tried to determine the correlation between morphological modifications and the adsorption abilities of cotton fibers using several methods: the analysis of microscope images of fibers by image processing and the analysis of the electrokinetic surface properties which express the adsorption behavior of fibers. The longitudinal images and cross-sections of native and modified cotton fibers were analyzed and the parameters: form factor, wall thickness, cross-section area, fiber diameter, lumen area were calculated using image processing. The adsorption behavior of native and NaOH modified polymers was investigated by the determination of electrokinetic properties. The zeta potential (ζ) was calculated from streaming potential measurements as a function of pH and surfactant concentration in the liquid phase. The results indicate that only a correct combination between the morphological modifications and electrokinetic behavior of fibers leads to a desirable adsorption mechanism which causes a specific adsorption of components of the liquid phase.