English speakers attend more strongly than Spanish speakers to manner of motion when classifying novel objects and events.

Three experiments provide evidence that the conceptualization of moving objects and events is influenced by one's native language, consistent with linguistic relativity theory. Monolingual English speakers and bilingual Spanish/English speakers tested in an English-speaking context performed better than monolingual Spanish speakers and bilingual Spanish/English speakers tested in a Spanish-speaking context at sorting novel, animated objects and events into categories on the basis of manner of motion, an attribute that is prominently marked in English but not in Spanish. In contrast, English and Spanish speakers performed similarly at classifying on the basis of path, an attribute that is prominently marked in both languages. Similar results were obtained regardless of whether categories were labeled by novel words or numbered, suggesting that an English-speaking tendency to focus on manner of motion is a general phenomenon and not limited to word learning. Effects of age of acquisition of English were also observed on the performance of bilinguals, with early bilinguals performing similarly in the 2 language contexts and later bilinguals showing greater contextual variation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Synthesis and surface activity of nonionic surfactants containing fluorocarbon hydrophobes

Nonionic surfactants having polydisperse polyoxyethylene chains and highly fluorinated hydrophobes were synthesized via a complex reaction route and their adsorption at water/air interfaces studied. They exhibit high surface activity and decrease both effectively and efficiently the surface tension of their aqueous solutions. The effect of the length of the polyoxyethylene chain upon surfactant surface activity is relatively low. Lower values of surface tension, below 30 mN m^?1, are obtained for surfactants having a low degree of ethoxylation. Surfactants having two terminal highly fluorinated hydrophobes are less surface active than analogues with one terminal hydrophobe.     

Particle velocities in a gas fluidized bed

A force acts on the walls of a fluidized bed container due to the collisions of the particles with these walls. A method is described for measuring this force, here called the particle pressure to distinguish it from the gas pressure. Using a model similar to the elementary kinetic theory of gases, an equation has been derived for calculating the average particle velocity from this particle pressure. Comparison shows the calculated velocities to be in fair agreement with reported measurements made photographically and with scintillation counters.     

Stability of supercurrents in flat films of tin

Using pulsed, 80-nsec-currents the stability of supercurrents in flat films of tin with compensating current return has been investigated. It is found that the voltage along the film rises with timet approximately asV=b+a[t/2(t–c)) ^1/2], whereb represents the (almost instantaneous) flux-flow voltage in a perpendicular field and the time constantt is an exponentially decreasing function ofJ(1+420/d)/[1–(T/T _c ⁴][1–H/H_c]. HereJ is the current density in the film of thicknessd in Å,T/T _c is the reduced temperature, andH /H_c is the reduced magnetic field. It is suggested that this instability is of the type investigated by Kramer and by Fink and Presson for currents in a superconducting surface sheath. At lower temperatures a second instability is found which is distinctly different from the one dominant at the higher temperatures.Supported in part by the National Science Foundation, in part by the Cryogenics Center through a Grant from the DOD Themis Program.     

Flux flow velocity in superconducting films by measurement of passage time

The velocity of flux tubes in thin superconducting films has been determined by measuring the time for their passing across the film. A legion of flux tubes has been pulsed in on the left side of a film carrying a current large enough to break the pinning. The arrival of the flux tubes on the right side is observed with a pick-up coil. Flow velocities of 3 to 50×10⁴ cm/sec have been observed with current densities up to 10⁵ A/cm².Supported in part by the National Science Foundation, in part by the Cryogenics Center through a grant from the DOD Themis program.     

The binding mode of progesterone to its receptor deduced from molecular dynamics simulations

An unambiguous understanding of the binding mode of human progesterone to its receptor still eludes experimental search. According to the X-ray structure of the ligand-binding domain, only one (O3) of the two keto groups at the ligand ends (O3 and O20) should play a role. This result is in conflict with chemical intuition and the results of site-directed mutagenesis experiments. Herein, we report classical molecular dynamics simulations that reveal the dynamic nature of the binding in solution, elucidate the reasons why X-ray studies failed to determine the role of O20, and clarify the effects of the mutations. The predictive power of the force field is ensured by the consistent introduction of a first-principles representation of the ligand.     

The Cognitive Interview: A meta-analytic review and study space analysis of the past 25 years.

The Cognitive Interview (CI) is a well-established protocol for interviewing witnesses. The current article presents a study space analysis of laboratory studies of the CI together with an empirical meta-analysis summarizing the past 25 years of research. The study space comprises 57 published articles (65 experiments) on the CI, providing an assessment of the boundary conditions underlying the analysis and application of this interview protocol. The current meta-analysis includes 46 published articles, including 20 articles published since the last meta-analysis conducted a decade earlier (K?hnken, Milne, Memon, & Bull, 1999). Reassuringly for practitioners, the findings of the original meta-analysis were replicated with a large and significant increase in correct details and a small increase in errors. In addition we found that there were no differences in the rate at which details are confabulated. Importantly, the effect sizes were unaffected by the inclusion of recent studies using modified versions of the CI. The CI appeared to benefit older adult witnesses even more than younger adults. We highlight trends and gaps in research and discuss how our findings can inform policy and training decisions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

New Approach to High-Pressure Nuclear Magnetic Resonance with Anvil Cells

A novel approach that uses radio-frequency microcoils in the high-pressure region of anvil cells with Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) experiments is described. High-sensitivity Al NMR data at 70 kbar for Al metal are presented for the first time. An expected decrease in the Al Knight shift at 70 kbar is observed, as well as an unexpected change in the local charge symmetry at the Al nucleus. The latter is not predicted by chemical structure analysis under high pressure.     

Magnetic specific heat and magnetoresistance of URhSi

Specific heat of a single crystalline URhSi was measured by a relaxation method in a temperature range 0.3–25 K in magnetic fields up to 8 T applied along the two of the principal axes. The low-temperature specific heat exponentially decays with magnetic field. The decay is much faster in fields applied along the easy magnetization direction (the c-axis) than for the hard axis (the a-axis) case. A strong upturn in c_p/T versus T below 0.6 K that disappears with application of magnetic field is observed suggesting possible magnetic or superconducting phase transition at lower temperatures. The electrical resistivity in the vicinity of the ferromagnetic phase temperature is found to be reduced by more than 50% upon application of magnetic field of 8 T applied along the c-axis. URhSi represent an itinerant ferromagnetic system with influence of spin fluctuations.