Time course of word identification and semantic integration in spoken language.

The minimum duration signal necessary to identify a set of spoken words was established by the gating technique; most words could be identified before their acoustic offset. Gated words were used as congruous and incongruous sentence completions, and isolation points established in the gating experiment were compared with the time course of semantic integration evident in event-related brain potentials. Differential N400 responses to contextually appropriate and inappropriate words were observed about 200 ms before the isolation point. Semantic processing was evident before the acoustic signal was sufficient to identify the words uniquely. Results indicate that semantic integration can begin to operate with only partial, incomplete information about word identity. Influences of semantic constraint, word frequency, and rate of presentation are described. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Paths of influence of divorce on preschool children's psychosocial adjustment.

This study examined the direct and indirect influences of parental divorce on preschool children's psychosocial adjustment through its effect on maternal strain, family socioeconomic status, the quality of the family's interpersonal relationships, and mother–child interaction. Participants included 198 married (n?=?99) and divorced (n?=?99), predominantly White, lower- to middle-income families with preschool children. Analyses using structural equation modeling (SEM) indicate that family structure and processes in combination most strongly influenced child outcomes. Specifically, the effects of divorce on children's adjustment were mediated by maternal strain and the quality of mother–child interaction. The goodness-of-fit indices (.90 to .94), root mean square error of approximation index (.03), and nonsignificant chi-square (p?=?.12) indicated a good fit for the generated structural equation model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parametric dependencies of high-diffraction-order achromatized aplanatic configurations that employ circular or crossed-linear diffractive optical elements

The parametric relationships of achromatized transmissive and reflective diffractive optical elements (DOEs) are explored for a number of configuration classes as a function of diffraction order, focal ratio, wavelength, and field angle. The necessity for blazing high-diffraction-order DOEs is elucidated. The ray image sizes are presented in dimensionless imaging space and thus are applicable to any size of optical system. Several aplanatic configurations are evaluated.     

The dual effect of oxidation on lipid bilayer structure

Sphingomyelin membranes were prepared with different levels of oxidative damage caused bytert-butyl hydroperoxide (TBH). Temperature-induced changes in membrane hydrocarbon chain packing (phase transitions) were monitored using infrared spectroscopy. Lipid phase transition characteristics were evaluated from thermodynamic parameters fitted to the experimental transition curve data. At temperatures below the lipid phase transition T_c, hydrocarbon chains pack in an ordered state whereas above the T_c the hydrocarbonchains pack in a disordered state. Compared to the non-oxidized control, the packing of the hydrocarbon chains of mildly oxidized sphingomyelin (<10 nmol TBH/mg lipid) was no different at all temperatures below the T_c, and was more ordered above the T_c. The hydrocarbon chains of strongly oxidized sphingomyelin (>10nmol TBH/mg lipid) were more disordered at temperatures above and below the T_c compared to the control samples. These results suggest that lipid oxidation has a dual effect on lipid order. A more ordered or disordered state may result depending on the degree of oxidation and the state of lipid order prior to oxidation. These results could be important for explaining the structural changes in oxidized membranes high in sphingomyelin such as those found in the ocular lens and liver plasma membranes.     

Nanocomposite coatings via simultaneous organic–inorganic photo‐induced polymerization: synthesis,structural investigation and mechanical characterization

Hybrid sol–gel films were prepared via a simultaneous organic‐inorganic UV‐curing process using a diaryliodonium salt as a superacid photogenerator. In this single‐step procedure, an epoxy functionalized reactive resin mixed with a variable amount of either of two epoxy trialkoxysilane precursors was UV‐irradiated, causing both the initiation of epoxy ring‐opening copolymerization and the catalysis of trialkoxysilyl sol–gel reactions. The concomitant photo‐induced sol–gel process was found to have a significant effect on the two related propagation mechanisms in competition for the oxirane ring‐opening—the active chain‐end and the activated monomer mechanisms—as proved by a systematic examination of the hybrid material microstructure through ²⁹Si and ¹³C solid‐state NMR spectroscopy. The effect of the oxo‐silica network generation on the epoxy reaction kinetics was also evaluated using real‐time Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy upon varying the epoxysilane structure and its concentration. Thermal and dynamic mechanical analyses were systematically performed on these hybrids, by studying thoroughly their structure–property interdependence. Other mechanical characterizations through tribological and scratch tests suggested that the present photopolymer–silica hybrid material provides a powerful tool to tailor mechanical property profiles. Copyright © 2010 Society of Chemical Industry     

Prediction of foreign language proficiency.

Best predictors of overall proficiency in a foreign language were examined in 2 experiments. Experiment 1 involved 60 10th- and 11th-grade girls attending a private, single-sex high school; Experiment 2 involved a coeducational population of 36 10th-grade students in a public school. Best predictors in both experiments were end of 1st-year grade in the foreign language and a measure of phonology–orthography, foreign language word decoding. In 1 experiment, native language vocabulary skill was also a predictor of overall proficiency. Heretofore, foreign language grade and word decoding had not been considered as predictors of foreign language proficiency. The finding that foreign language word decoding was a good predictor of both oral and written proficiency suggests its importance as both a predictor variable and an important component of foreign language proficiency. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Energy transfer in a large-scale thermal solar power farm

Proposals for large-scale thermal solar power farms using distributed collector modules have met with objections concerning energy losses in transporting the heat transfer fluid to, through, and from the many modules involved. We show herein that a large-scale configuration is possible in which the individual modules are the order of 1 km in length, so that a single pair of central feeder pipes is all that is required in the way of heat-losing piping. An equation is derived for the ratio of power output to power consumed that is independent of the collector parameters.     

Differential improvement of cognitive functions in recovering alcoholic women.

In Study 1, 40 long-term sober alcoholics (mean age 42.15 yrs) performed at or near the level of 40 age-matched short-term sober alcoholics on several perceptuomotor speed tasks, at the level of 70 age-matched nonalcoholic controls on several complex problem-solving measures, and intermediate to the 2 groups on most measures, suggesting a differential improvement in cognitive abilities. In Study 2, the same neuropsychological battery (including the Beck Depression Inventory, Raven Advanced Progressive Matrices Test, and WAIS) was first administered to 25 short-term sober alcoholics and 25 controls and readministered to both groups 1.8 yrs later. Relative to the controls, alcoholics demonstrated deficits over both testings on all abstracting, visual–spatial, and perceptuomotor measures, although they did show a trend toward greater improvement on these tests in the follow-up. Results suggest that posttreatment drinking may be a variable of considerable importance in studies of recovery of cognitive functions in alcoholics. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)