McMaster-Bauer symposium on consciousness.

The McMaster University Brain and Behaviour Research Programme was initiated in 1977 with the purpose of facilitating inter-departmental and inter-faculty discussion and collaborative research concerning brain-behaviour relationships in a broad perspective. It was supported initially, in part, by the John A. Bauer Memorial Fund, which provided resources for guest lectures. In planning the Bauer lecture for 1983, it seemed that a topic in the area of cognitive neuroscience might be suitable, preferably one of a general nature that would be of interest to several disciplines. Consciousness is surely one of the most perplexing of human issues--the question being how the living material of the human brain results in the subjective awareness humankind experiences. It has been a topic considered for centuries by philosophers and psychologists, psychiatrists and physicists, among others. A recent book written by Julian Jaynes, The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind, embraced many issues from psychology and neurology to archaeology, anthropology, the classics, and religious studies. Jaynes was invited to give the 1983 Bauer lecture. At the same time, Jonathan Miller was invited to discuss some of the anthropological considerations of Jaynes's thesis; Daniel Dennett agreed to present his philosophical views of Jaynes's notion of the nature and origin of consciousness; and George Ojemann discussed the neurological aspects of Jaynes's theory. Included here are Jaynes's original lecture, entitled "Consciousness and the voices of the mind"; an open discussion with questions from the audience; the discussions by Miller, Dennett, and Ojemann; a panel discussion among the four presenters; and finally another open discussion that included questions for all four presenters. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Rumours greatly exaggerated: Allport and Postman's apocryphal study.

Assessed the potential impact of stereotypical information on memory, using 107 undergraduates. Ss saw a series of slides depicting a violent knifing incident between 2 men on the London Underground. Half were shown the altercation as occurring between 2 White men and half between a Black and a White man. In all cases, the critical slide in which the knife was presented showed it to be in the hand of the White man. After a distraction interval of 45 min Ss were given forced-choice recognition and recall tests. The latter required the Ss to write a brief account of the event while the former required Ss to choose between 2 slides. Results indicate that, when the recognition test preceded the recall test, Ss who had seen the slides with the Black and White protagonists were less accurate than those who had seen only White protagonists. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychological functioning following an acute disaster.

We investigated personal and organizational functioning following an acute disaster in an explosives factory in which 14 people were killed and 14 others were injured. Multivariate analyses of covariance (controlling for age and organizational tenure) assessed whether there were any differences between the experimental group (40 individuals physically exposed to the explosion) and two control groups (one from the same site performing a different job, the second from a separate site performing the same job; n?=?76 and n?=?40, respectively). During the 2nd week following the blast and 2 months afterward, there were no between-group differences in terms of job satisfaction, organizational commitment, marital satisfaction, or psychological distress. Failure to find any differences was attributed to the acute (as opposed to chronic) nature of the disaster. At both time periods, family support was correlated with personal functioning, whereas supervisory support was associated with job satisfaction; this is discussed in terms of the source of the stressor being consistent with the source of the support and the nature of the outcome. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Estimating botnet virulence within mathematical models of botnet propagation dynamics

Mathematical models of botnet propagation dynamics are increasingly deemed to have potential for significant contribution to botnet mitigation. Botnet virulence, which comprises network vulnerability rate and network infection rate, is a key factor in those models. In this paper we discuss a practical approach that draws on epidemiological models in biology to estimate the botnet virulence in a network. Our research provides mathematical models of botnet propagation dynamics with concrete measures of botnet virulence, which make those models practical and hence employable in mitigation of real world botnets in a timely fashion. The approach is based on random sampling and follows a novel application of statistical learning and inference in a botnet-versus-network setting. We have implemented this research in the Matlab programming language. In this paper, we discuss an experimental evaluation of the effectiveness of this research with respect to botnet propagation dynamics realistically simulated in a GTNetS network simulation platform.     

Determining the specific gravities of coarse aggregates utilizing vacuum saturation approach

The current method of specific gravity and absorption of coarse aggregate testing is based on the AASHTO T 85 and ASTM C-127 standards. This approach involves the soaking of the coarse aggregate samples for 15h (AASHTO T 85) and 24 ± 4 h (ASTM C-127), and drying the aggregate to its saturated-surface dry (SSD) state with the aid of a dry absorbent cloth. The attainment of the SSD condition of the coarse aggregate is very subjective, and the total test duration makes it inconvenient for use in construction quality control and quality assurance testing (QC/QA).The objective of this paper is to determine the specific gravity and absorption of coarse aggregates using a new proposed approach utilizing vacuum saturation. In lieu of the conventional soaking period of 24 ± 4 h, this proposed research approach employs the use of 10, 20 and 30 min of vacuum saturation at 30 mm Hg (4.0 kPa) pressure. In this paper, the soaking time is 24 ± 4 h for all the AASHTO method. It is also believed that the 24 ± 4 h shall give better soaking and therefore more accurate test results would be achieved. Vacuum saturating the coarse aggregates aims at removing all the entrapped air within the sample mass, in addition to forcing water into the effective pores of the coarse aggregates. This method is applied to a wide range of coarse aggregates including trap rock, limestone, gravel, steel slag, crushed concrete, and the results are compared statistically with those of AASHTO T 85. Results from the experiments indicate that the vacuum saturation method can replace the AASHTO T 85 for coarse aggregate specific gravity testing at 10, 20 or 30 min of vacuum saturation. A significant finding was that the AASHTO T 85 underestimates the full absorption potential of highly absorptive aggregates when compared to this proposed vacuum saturation approach.     

Bioproduction of cis‐(1S,2R)‐indandiol,a chiral pharmaceutical intermediate,using a solid–liquid two‐phase partitioning bioreactor for enhanced removal of inhibitors

BACKGROUND: A solid‐liquid two‐phase partitioning bioreactor (TPPB) was used in the biotransformation of indene to cis‐(1S,2R)‐indandiol by Pseudomonas putida 421‐5 (ATCC 55687). Metered substrate feeding in single‐phase operation, or delivery from an immiscible liquid, have previously been employed to regulate the exposure of the biocatalyst to inhibitory concentrations of the substrate. In contrast, the solid‐liquid platform provided in situ substrate addition (ISSA) as well as simultaneous it in situ product removal (ISPR) as a means of overcoming substrate and product toxicity. Three different modes of operation were compared for their effects on the performance of this biotransformation: single‐phase, fed‐batch operation was carried out as a benchmark in 2.75 L aqueous medium, and subsequently with the inclusion of either 700 g liquid silicone oil or 700 g solid polymer beads. RESULTS: Biphasic modes achieved a 3‐fold productivity improvement with respect to single‐phase (30 to 90 mg L^?1 h^?1), and solid‐liquid productivity was similar to liquid‐liquid operation while achieving more extensive removal of inhibitory compounds resulting in a slightly higher product titer (1.29 vs 1.16 g L^?1). The operability of the reactor was improved by the phase stability of the solid polymer beads relative to immiscible organic solvents, preventing emulsion formation and facilitating analytics. CONCLUSION: Solid polymer beads replaced the immiscible liquid auxiliary phase for substrate delivery while performing simultaneous inhibitory molecule sequestration. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry     

Spectroscopic and Theoretical Study on Electronically Modified Chromophores in LOV Domains: 8‐Bromo‐ and 8‐Trifluoromethyl‐Substituted Flavins

Two chemically synthesized flavin derivatives, 8‐trifluoromethyl‐ and 8‐bromoriboflavin (8‐CF₃RF and 8‐BrRF), were photochemically characterized in H₂O and studied spectroscopically after incorporation into the LOV domain of the blue light photoreceptor YtvA from Bacillus subtilis. The spectroscopic studies were paralleled by high‐level quantum chemical calculations. In solution, 8‐BrRF showed a remarkably high triplet quantum yield (0.97, parent compound riboflavin, RF: 0.6) and a small fluorescence quantum yield (0.07, RF: 0.27). For 8‐CF₃RF, the triplet yield was 0.12, and the fluorescence quantum yield was 0.7. The high triplet yield of 8‐BrRF is due to the bromine heavy atom effect causing a stronger spin–orbit coupling. Theoretical calculations reveal that the decreased triplet yield of 8‐CF₃RF is due to a smaller charge transfer and a less favorable energetic position of T₂, required for intersystem crossing from S₁ to T₁, as an effect of the electron‐withdrawing CF₃ group. The reconstitution of the LOV domain with the new flavins resulted in the typical LOV photochemistry, consisting of triplet state formation and covalent binding of the chromophore, followed by a thermal recovery of the parent state, albeit with different kinetics and photophysical properties.     

Impact of cosolvents (polyols) on globular protein functionality: Ultrasonic velocity, density, surface tension and solubility study

The objective of this study was to understand how cosolvents influence the molecular and functional properties of globular proteins in aqueous solutions. The ultrasonic velocity, density and adiabatic compressibility of cosolvent solutions (0–50 wt% sorbitol or glycerol) were measured in the absence and presence of a globular protein (1 wt% β-lactoglobulin) at 30 °C. These measurements were used to calculate the partial specific apparent volume and adiabatic compressibility of the protein. The protein's volume decreased and its compressibility increased in the presence of high cosolvent concentrations, which were attributed to changes in the properties of the protein interior and solvation layer. Sorbitol was more effective than glycerol at decreasing the protein volume at high cosolvent concentrations, which may be because glycerol has some surface activity and may therefore accumulate around hydrophobic regions on the protein surface. Our data were used to account for the observation that sorbitol is more effective than glycerol at increasing the thermal stability and self-association of the β-lactoglobulin. A better understanding of the influence of protein–cosolvent–solvent interactions on the functionality of globular proteins may facilitate the design of protein-based products.     

Predicting sales performance, job satisfaction, and depression by using the Achievement Strivings and Impatience-Irritability dimensions of Type A behavior.

Recent research suggested that two dimensions of Type A behavior, namely, Achievement Strivings (AS) and Impatience-Irritability (II), differentially predict physical health and performance outcomes. The present study extends this research and examines whether AS and II differentially predict work performance (number of insurance policies sold), work attitudes (job satisfaction), and depression in a sample of 117 life insurance salespersons. As hypothesized, after statistically controlling for relevant biographical variables and II, AS predicted the number of policies sold and job satisfaction but was not related to depression. After partialing out the effect of relevant biographical variables and AS, II was associated with depression but not with the number of policies sold. In addition, controlling for the same variables, II was negatively associated with job satisfaction. Implications for the prediction of sales performance, job satisfaction, and depression, and interventions designed to decrease the negative consequences of Type A by reducing II but not AS, are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)