PREDICTION OF CREATIVITY AND OTHER PERFORMANCE MEASURES FROM BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION AMONG PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENTISTS.

A 160-ITEM BIOGRAPHICAL INVENTORY WAS ADMINISTERED TO 157 PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENTISTS WHO WERE RANDOMLY ASSIGNED TO 2 GROUPS OF 79 AND 78 SS. EACH ALTERNATIVE FROM EACH ITEM IN THE INVENTORY WAS CORRELATED WITH 19 CRITERION MEASURES OBTAINED ON EACH OF THE SCIENTISTS. THESE PRIMARILY INVOLVED RATINGS OF CREATIVITY, QUANTITY OF WORK PRODUCED, SKILL WITH PEOPLE, ETC., OBTAINED FROM SUPERVISORS, PEERS, AND SUBORDINATES. REMARKABLY LITTLE RELATIONSHIP EXISTED BETWEEN SUPERVISORY AND PEER RATINGS OF THE SCIENTISTS ON MOST VARIABLES. USING A DOUBLE CROSS-VALIDATION DESIGN, INVENTORY PREDICTOR KEYS WERE DEVELOPED FOR EACH OF THE CRITERION RATINGS AND APPLIED ACROSS TO THE NEW INDEPENDENT SAMPLE. SIGNIFICANT CROSS VALIDITIES WERE OBTAINED, NOTABLY IN THE PREDICTION OF THE CREATIVITY CRITERION, WHERE CORRELATIONS OF .36 AND .42 RESULTED ACROSS THE 2 SUBSAMPLES. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Surface Composition of Porous Glass

Both boron and silicon were detected on the surface of porous glass. Infrared and adsorption data show five or six times more boron in the surface than can be expected from chemical analysis of the porous glass. It is suggested that the excess of boron in the surface occurs during the leaching of the base glass.     

Sport And Downtown Development Strategy If You Build It,Will Jobs Come?

ABSTRACT: Many policy analysts have cautioned against public spending for professional and amateur sports. Within the last year, numerous cities have received demands from major and minor league teams for investments. These investments by the public sector can involve hundreds of millions of dollars and are usually defended by the economic impact of the facilities or teams and the economic development and revitalization which will follow. Indianapolis formulated an economic development strategy which relied substantially on sports. In addition, its development policies did not involve one team or facility, but a series of investments. As a result, the policies followed in Indianapolis afford an opportunity to measure the ability of sport facilities to encourage other investments and enhance economic development. The results reported here indicate that a sports strategy, even one as pronounced and as articulated as that of Indianapolis, is likely to have an inconsequential impact on development and economic growth.     

Assay Systems and Characterization of Pacific Whiting (Merluccius productus) Protease

Commonly used protease assays and substrates were compared for sensitivity and simplicity in analyzing proteolytic activity in Pacific whiting causing gel weakening of surimi during heat-setting. Assay based on detection of trichloroacetic acid (TCA)-soluble products, using azocasein as substrate, showed highest sensitivity. By that assay, optimal pH of the protease was 5.5, and optimal temperature, 55°. The validity of the assay for measuring activity was confirmed by pH profiles of residual proteolytic and autolytic activities of uncooked surimi. These analyses showed pH profiles similar to those of fish juice with a pH optimum of 5.5.     

Caffeine Inhibition of Sterigmatocystin, Citrinin, and Patulin Production

Microbiological medium was used to study the effect of caffeine on sterigmatocystin, citrinin, and patulin production by Aspergillus versicolor, Penicillium citrinum, and Penicillium urticae, respectively. Caffeine inhibited the growth of the three fungal species and decreased sterigmatocystin and patulin production. The effect on citrinin production appeared to be limited to a delay in toxin synthesis. A preliminary examination of P. urticae suggested that caffeine's anti-mycotoxigenic activity does not involve a generalized inhibition of lipid synthesis.     

Crosslinking-mediated activation of the FcεRI: Does it need antigen for success?

Mast cells (MCs), hematopoietic cells of the myeloid lineage, are well-known for their pro-inflammatory nature contributing to the development of various allergic and autoimmune diseases. One of the characteristic receptors on MCs, the high-affinity receptor for IgE (FcεRI), is activated in its IgE-bound state via binding and crosslinking by polyvalent antigen. This results in its phosphorylation by the SRC family kinase LYN, initiating differential signaling pathways, eventually triggering immunological effector functions, such as degranulation and cytokine production. Few publications have reported on FcεRI-dependent but antigen-independent MC activation by antibody-mediated crosslinking of membrane molecules (e.g., transmembrane proteins and glycosphingolipids) that are both localized in membrane rafts and in close vicinity to the FcεRI. In this Viewpoint we will briefly introduce FcεRI-mediated MC stimulation, cite examples of FcεRI-proximal molecules, the crosslinking of which can cause FcεRI-dependent MC activation, and discuss the potential of certain viruses as well as auto-antibodies to act as indirect FcεRI-crosslinking agents. In latter cases, antigen-independent FcεRI-mediated pro-inflammatory MC activation could contribute to the development of detrimental cytokine storms.     

Phase Relations at Liquidus Temperatures in the System MgO-NiO-SiO2

The well-known "quenching technique" has been used to determine liquidus and solidus phase relations in the system MgO-NiO-SiO₂. Oxide mixtures were heated at selected temperatures for sufficient lengths of time for attainment of equilibrium, followed by quenching to room temperature, and phase identification by optical microscopy (transmitted-and reflected-light examination) and X-ray diffraction. Two ternary liquidus invariant points are present in the system. One is characterized by the coexistence of pyroxene (Mg-SiO₃-NiSiO₃ solid solution), olivine (Mg₂SiO₄-Ni₂SiO₄ solid solution), silica (cristobalite), and liquid at 1547°C. The other eutectic is at 1633°C and is characterized by the coexistence of olivine, oxide (MgO-NiO solid solution), silica, and liquid. There is a temperature maximum on the olivine-silica liquidus boundary curve at 1639°C. Reversals in the distribution ratios of magnesium and nickel between solid and liquid phases coexisting in equilibrium during crystallization of melts in this system may occur, depending on the compositions of the mixtures.     

Suspension Processing of Al2O3/SiC Whisker Composites

Homogeneous Al₂O₃ powder/SiC whisker compacts were prepared by suspension processing. By optimizing the conditions for particle/whisker codispersion, castable suspensions could be prepared at total-solids concentrations 50 vol%. Green bodies with high relative density (∼66% to 70%) were obtained with SiC whisker contents in the range of 5 to 30 vol%. Although densification was severely inhibited by the SiC whiskers, significantly higher sintered densities were obtained by suspension processing compared to dry processing.     

Imaging applications of synchrotron X-ray phase-contrast microtomography in biological morphology and biomaterials science. I. General aspects of the technique and its advantages in the analysis of millimetre-sized arthropod structure

Synchrotron‐generated X‐rays provide scientists with a multitude of investigative techniques well suited for the analysis of the composition and structure of all types of materials and specimens. Here, we describe the properties of synchrotron‐generated X‐rays and the advantages that they provide for qualitative morphological research of millimetre‐sized biological organisms and biomaterials. Case studies of the anatomy of insect heads, of whole microarthropods and of the three‐dimensional reconstruction of the cuticular tendons of jumping beetles, all performed at the beamline ID19 of the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), are presented to illustrate the techniques of phase‐contrast tomography available for anatomical and structural investigations. Various sample preparation techniques are described and compared and experimental settings that we have found to be particularly successful are given. On comparing the strengths and weaknesses of the technique with traditional histological thin sectioning, we conclude that synchrotron radiation microtomography has a great potential in biological microanatomy.