The paradox of group-based guilt: Modes of national identification, conflict vehemence, and reactions to the in-group's moral violations.

The authors examined the relationships between 2 modes of national identification (attachment to the in-group and the in-group's glorification) and reactions to the in-group's moral violations among Israeli students. Data were collected during a period of relative calm in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as well as during a period of great intensification of this conflict. As expected, in Study 1, the 2 modes of identification had contrasting relationships with group-based guilt: Attachment was positively related whereas glorification was negatively related to group-based guilt for in-group's past infractions. Glorification suppressed the attachment effect but not vice versa. Both relationships were mediated by the use of exonerating cognitions. In Study 2, group-based guilt for the in-group's current wrongdoings was increased by priming critical rather than conventional attachment to the in-group, suggesting a causal effect of mode of identification on the experience of negative group-based emotions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Large-scale ATM multistage switching network with shared buffermemory switches

The configuration of an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) switch architecture using a shared buffer memory switch (SBMS) is discussed. The scaling factors of the ATM switching network under a condition of mixed applications, including a conventional mix and telecommunication with video, are analyzed. The use of the SBMS as the unit switch for a multistage switching network is examined. A prototype system and its performance evaluation and experimental data are presented. The data indicate excellent performance under a burst cell arrival condition. The buffer size of the SBMS can be reduced in comparison with that of an individual (nonshared) buffer memory switch. A configuration for a large-scale ATM switching network with multistage switches is proposed     

Strained InGaAs/InAlAs MQW electroabsorption modulators with largebandwidth and low driving voltage

We demonstrate the improved modulation properties of a new strained InGaAs/InAlAs MQW electro-absorption modulator. This tensile strained MQW modulator shows low driving voltage (V_{15 dB}=1.2 V), large modulation bandwidth (f_{3 dB}>20 GHz), and a 10 Gbit/s eye pattern with a clear eye opening and high extinction ratio. The effective α parameter determined from waveform deterioration is 0.6, which is low enough for multigigabit long-haul fiber transmission systems     

High-speed MQW electroabsorption optical modulators integrated withlow-loss waveguides

An MQW electro-absorption optical modulator integrated with low-loss input and output waveguides is proposed to achieve larger modulation bandwidth with a shorter modulation region, keeping the total device length large enough for easy fabrication and packaging. A fabricated 1-mm-long modulator with a modulation-region length of 50 μm shows a low insertion loss (7 dB), low driving voltage (V_{10 dB}=2.6 V), and large modulation bandwidth f_{3 dB} =40 (GHz) extrapolated from measurements up to 20 GHz. This modulator is suitable for application to ultra-high-speed fiber transmission systems     

Fluorine-18 labeled 6-fluoro-L-dopa: systematization and evaluation of its usefulness

6-[18F]Fluoro-L-dopa (L-3,4-dihydroxy-6-[18F]fluorophenylalanine; 6-[18F]FDPA) is useful to assess presynaptic dopamine metabolism in central nervous system. In this paper, we report on the usefulness of the 6-[18F]FDOPA synthesis system developed for the routine synthesis. This system consists of the 6-[18F]FOPA synthesis and the separation units in conjunction with controller using a personal computer. The synthesis time of 6-[18F]FDOPA was 73 minutes. The typical yield and specific activity were 1.4-2.4 GBq and 244-270 MBq/mumol at the end of synthesis, respectively, under the irradiation condition of 50 microA for 130 minutes. The radiochemical yields of 6-[18F]FDOPA were 31.3-38.7% based on the [18F]acetylhypofluorite, and the results were affected with the condition of potassium acetate (AcOK) to produce gaseous [18F]acetylhypofluorite. This system is useful for the routine production of 6-[18F]FDOPA because of its high yield and high specific activity while maintaining AcOK in good condition, and decreasing the radiation exposure for chemist.     

Prevalence and correlates of major depressive episode among the elderly in a community in Japan

A random sample of 205 persons from a community of about 45,500 residents, aged 65 years or older, in a city in Japan, was surveyed using an interview schedule including a structured psychiatric interview to analyze prevalence of major depressive episode (DSM-III-R). A total of 157 (77%) participated in the study. Results were as follows: 1) The Prevalence of major depressive episode during the past 6 months was 2.1% for males and 3.7% for females among the 155 respondents who completed the psychiatric interview. 2) Significantly higher prevalence during the past 6 months was observed in those who were physically inactive in the past year than in those physically active (p < 0.05). 3) Levels of satisfaction with available social support were significantly lower in those who experienced major depressive episode during the past six months than in those who experienced no depressive episode (p < 0.05). 4) Levels of life satisfaction (PGC scale score) and cognitive functioning were significantly lower in those experienced major depressive episode during the past six months than in those who experienced no depressive episode (p < 0.05).     

Heterogeneous distributions of histamine H3, dopamine D1 and D2 receptors in rat brain

The changes of the histamine H3 and dopamine D1 or D2 receptor binding sites induced by quinolinic acid treatment were studied in order to discriminate the comparative distribution. This treatment resulted in similar decreases in histamine H3 and dopamine D1 receptor binding sites in the striatum and ipsilateral substantia nigra. Dopamine D2 receptor binding sites were relatively well conserved, whereas H3 receptors decreased considerably. These results suggest that histamine H3 and dopamine D1 receptor binding sites are localized on the striatonigral projection neurones which are together sensitive to quinolinic acid, and that the distributional compartment of dopamine D2 receptor binding sites is quite different from those of histamine H3 and dopamine D1 receptors.     

Characterization of almond alpha-mannosidase and its application for structure analysis of sugar chain

Almond alpha-mannosidase was purified by separation on columns of DEAE-Sephadex A50 and hydroxyapatite, and characterized. Its optimum pH was approximately 3.8. It was also shown to be stable from pH 6 to 8. Its activity was stable up to 60 degrees C. The thermostability of almond alpha-mannosidase at 73 degrees C appeared to be superior to that of jack bean a-mannosidase. We examined the substrate specificity of the former toward high-mannose-type N-glycan Man9GlcNAc2, and showed that the deduced trimming pathway was more diverse than that of the latter. We could use almond alpha-mannosidase as well as jack bean alpha-mannosidase for analysis of sugar chain structures.     

High-performance computing of wind turbine aerodynamics using isogeometric analysis

In this article we present a high-performance computing framework for advanced flow simulation and its application to wind energy based on the residual-based variational multiscale (RBVMS) method and isogeometric analysis. The RBVMS formulation and its suitability and accuracy for turbulent flow in a moving domain are presented. Particular emphasis is placed on the parallel implementation of the methodology and its scalability. Two challenging flow cases were considered: the turbulent Taylor–Couette flow and the NREL 5 MW offshore baseline wind turbine rotor at full scale. In both cases, flow quantities of interest from the simulation results compare favorably with the reference data and near-perfect linear parallel scaling is achieved.