Activation and metacognition of inaccessible stored information: Potential bases for incubation effects in problem solving.

Two experiments were conducted with a hybrid procedure that involved a battery of indirect criterion tests designed to study the activation and metacognition of inaccessible stored information. In each experiment, subjects first attempted to recall some rare target words in response to a series of definitions meant to cue retrieval from long-term semantic memory. For the words that could not be recalled initially, the subjects rated their feelings of knowing. They then performed a lexical-decision task in which the target words and other control words were presented. Reaction times were measured as a function of the feeling-of-knowing ratings and the length of the interval between the initial exposure to the definitions and the subsequent lexical decisions. Faster decisions occurred for the target words than for the controls, especially when strong feelings of knowing had been expresseed about the targets. Similar facilitation was obtained in a subsequent old-new recognition task. It appears that unsuccessful attempts to retrieve inaccessible stored information prime the later recognition of the information through a process of spreading activation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attitude accessibility as a moderator of autonomic reactivity during decision making.

Attitude functionality was assessed in 2 experiments examining attitude accessibility as a moderator of physiological responses during decision making. In Study 1, experimental Ss but not controls rehearsed attitudes toward novel objects (abstract paintings). Subsequently, all Ss made rapid preference judgments for pairs of the paintings. In Study 2, attitudes were rehearsed by all Ss toward 1 of 2 mutually exclusive sets of abstract paintings. During the subsequent decision-making task, half the Ss made rapid pairwise preference judgments for rehearsed abstract paintings and half for pairs from the unrehearsed set. Autonomic measures were recorded continuously throughout both experiments. As predicted, in both experiments less autonomic reactivity was evident during the criterion pairwise preference task for groups for whom attitude rehearsal was relevant to the criterion task. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Le T.A.T. et les Fonctions du Moi and L'activite Symbolique et l'apprentissage Scolaire en Milieux Favorise et Defavorise.

Reviews the books, Le T.A.T. et les Fonctions du Moi by Monique V. G. Morval (1977); and L'activite Symbolique et l'apprentissage Scolaire en Milieux Favorise et Defavorise by Yvon Gauthier and Simon Richer (1977). Few books, if it is none, appeared these last few years in French language on the T.A.T. No practical guide for the beginning psychologist existed. There was no clear handbook in its presentation and its style that was offered to the French-speaking expert. Without doubt we are happy to introduce the book by Monique V G Morval. The use of the psychologist is presented in the shape of a book, this work makes it possible to approach the first necessary stage and has the first study of the T.A.T. before delving into deeper knowledge of the subject. In another book two psychiatrists of analytical orientation, Gauthier and Richer, discuss in their book the first symbolic system activity and school apprenticeship in various mediums. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Selected aggregate properties significantly affect the behaviour of bituminous paving mixtures

This paper presents a summary of some of the findings obtained during a series of research projects aimed to select, define and evaluate the significant aggregate and filler properties, and to relate them to the behaviour of bituminous concrete. The paper discusses a new concept and test method suggested for an objective quantitative evaluation of the geometric irregularity of aggregate particles (shape, angularity and surface texture combined) in a wide range of particle sizes. The aggregate parameters were found to be significantly correlated to the physical properties and mechanical behaviour of the bituminous mixtures composed of the aggregates tested. The paper also summarizes research work and findings related to a special evaluation of important physico-chemical properties of the filler and their significant effect on the immediate properties and the long-term durability behaviour of bituminous paving mixtures.     

Sequential interactive evolution for finding high-quality topologies

Finding a diverse set of high-quality (HQ) topologies for a single-objective optimization problem using an evolutionary computation algorithm can be difficult without a reliable measure that adequately describes the dissimilarity between competing topologies. In this article, a new approach for enhancing diversity among HQ topologies for engineering design applications is proposed. The technique initially selects one HQ solution and then searches for alternative HQ solutions by performing an optimization of the original objective and its dissimilarity with respect to the previously found solution. The proposed multi-objective optimization approach interactively amalgamates user articulated preferences with an evolutionary search so as sequentially to produce a set of diverse HQ solutions to a single-objective problem. For enhancing diversity, a new measure is suggested and an approach to reducing its computational time is studied and implemented. To illustrate the technique, a series of studies involving different topologies represented as bitmaps is presented.     

Validation of the simplified UVB model to assess the pharmacodynamics of analgesics in healthy human volunteers

A pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic, randomized, crossover, placebo-controlled study was conducted in healthy human volunteers with the primary objective of exploring the existence of a positive interaction between paracetamol 1 g and ketorolac 20 mg intravenously on experimental pain models. Further, the simplified UVB model was validated as a screening tool for analgesics or a combination of analgesics in clinical drug development. It was observed that the UVB irradiation induced primary hyperalgesia, evidenced by significant decreases of the heat pain threshold from (mean ± SD) 46.9 ± 1.1 °C to 40.1 ± 1.7 °C (p <0.001) and of the mechanical pain threshold (62% decrease). A small intra- and inter-individual variability was observed as well as consistent intra-day stability for the heat pain threshold. The UVB irradiation also resulted in the development of an area of secondary hyperalgesia of 21.3 ± 11.3 cm(2). The mechanical pain threshold and area of secondary hyperalgesia showed small intra-individual variability and consistent intra-day stability. However, a greater variability was observed between subjects, which suggests that a crossover design would allow limiting the number of subjects.     

Toxicity Assessments of Multisized Gold and Silver Nanoparticles in Zebrafish Embryos

The potential toxicity of nanoparticles is addressed by utilizing a putative attractive model in developmental biology and genetics: the zebrafish (Danio rerio). Transparent zebrafish embryos, possessing a high degree of homology to the human genome, offer an economically feasible, medium‐througput screening platform for noninvasive real‐time assessments of toxicity. Using colloidal silver (cAg) and gold nanoparticles (cAu) in a panoply of sizes (3, 10, 50, and 100 nm) and a semiquantitative scoring system, it is found that cAg produces almost 100% mortality at 120 h post‐fertilization, while cAu produces less than 3% mortality at the same time point. Furthermore, while cAu induces minimal sublethal toxic effects, cAg treatments generate a variety of embryonic morphological malformations. Both cAg and cAu are taken up by the embryos and control experiments, suggesting that cAg toxicity is caused by the nanoparticles themselves or Ag⁺ that is formed during in vivo nanoparticle destabilization. Although cAg toxicity is slightly size dependent at certain concentrations and time points, the most striking result is that parallel sizes of cAg and cAu induce significantly different toxic profiles, with the former being toxic and the latter being inert in all exposed sizes. Therefore, it is proposed that nanoparticle chemistry is as, if not more, important than specific nanosizes at inducing toxicity in vivo. Ultimately such assessments using the zebrafish embryo model should lead to the identification of nanomaterial characteristics that afford minimal or no toxicity and guide more rational designs of materials on the nanoscale.