Winning and positive affect can lead to reckless gambling.

Experiments 1 and 2 examined whether winning versus losing led to reckless betting for real prize money. Experiment 2 also assessed whether positive or negative emotions were linked to such reckless betting. College students were randomly assigned to experience primarily either wins or losses during the rigged first round of a computerized card tournament that had 2 independent rounds. For the second round, participants’ chip totals were reset and cards were dealt randomly. In Experiment 1 (N = 107), participants in the Initial-Winning, as compared with the Initial-Losing, condition bet more recklessly (i.e., bet too many chips when a loss was likely). Experiment 2 (N = 72) again showed that Initial-Winning participants bet significantly more recklessly than did Initial-Losing participants. It also revealed that positive affect was significantly positively correlated with such reckless betting. These findings have implications for understanding how college students, those at an age when they are especially vulnerable to problem gambling, can come to lose more money than they can afford. Initially winning and positive affect when gambling could be risk factors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Characteristics of traditionally processed shea kernels and butter

The traditional production of shea butter requires a heat treatment of the nuts. This study compared the end products derived by two commonly used heat treatments, namely smoking and boiling followed by sun‐drying. Neither treatment influenced the moisture content of the kernels (8–10%), but the boiling treatment resulted in more free fatty acids (FFA) (6%) and a higher fat content (41%) of kernels. A sensory panel preferred shea butter from boiled kernels because of its soft texture and intense smell. This butter also had the highest values for moisture content (2%), unsaponifiable matter (7%), tocopherol compounds (125 mg g^?1), peroxide value (8 meq O₂ kg^?1), iodine value (53 mg I₂ 100 g^?1) and FFA (2%). Minor variations were noticed in the fatty acid profile. Aside from the use of butter from both boiled and smoked kernels in cosmetics, the butter from smoked kernels will be more suitable for food purposes.     

Information systems and the allure of organisational integration: a cautionary tale from the Irish financial services sector

In this paper we draw on evidence from an in-depth, longitudinal, interpretive study of an ambitious attempt to implement a large-scale information systems (IS) infrastructure (the ILCUTECH Standard Information System (ISIS) project) within the Irish credit union movement, to explore some of the difficulties and contradictions associated with information and communication technology (ICT)-enabled organisational integration. We argue that, in their enthusiasm for facilitating IS innovation, the leadership of the movement neglected more deep-seated organisational issues that were, to that point, largely unarticulated. In an attempt to get to the heart of these issues, we synthesise a distinctive theoretical perspective that draws mainly on institutional theory. This helps untangle the complex institutional heritage of the credit union movement, which resulted in the emergence of an interesting hybridity of institutional logics and latent contradictions. These contradictions provoked the emergence of a particular kind of institutional entrepreneurship, which was deeply implicated in reshaping institutionalised ways of thinking and doing. We emphasise the political nature of the change process and argue that the institutional arrangements for governing the ISIS project, which also underpinned the governance of the broader movement, were not well suited to manage the risk associated with such an enterprise. We conclude by suggesting that the case described might be an example of the workings of a broader kind of change dynamics around ICT. Specifically, the scale and scope of the change project acted as a trigger that brought tensions underlying existing competing institutional logics to a head, thus provoking institutional reform.     

Eating behavior in response to food-cue exposure: Examining the cue-reactivity and counteractive-control models.

Many studies have demonstrated that those high in weight-related concerns eat more after food-cue exposure, which is consistent with predictions of the cue-reactivity model. However, the counteractive-control model predicts that exposure to fattening foods activates dieting-related goals and behavior in weight-concerned individuals. Although these models seem incongruous, the authors hypothesized that the salience of the cue could represent a critical factor in determining which model is activated. The authors predicted that attending to salient food cues would result in increased intake (cue reactivity) in individuals with high weight-related concerns, whereas incidental food-cue exposure would result in decreased intake (counteractive control), relative to control exposure. The authors employed a 3 (attended vs. incidental vs. control cue) × 2 (low vs. high weight-related concerns) design. As expected, participants with high weight-related concerns who attended to a food cue ate more than did both those with high weight-related concerns in the control condition and those with low weight-related concerns in the attended-cue condition; however, intake of individuals with high weight-related concerns who were exposed to the incidental cue did not differ from that of those in the control condition. The manner of food-cue presentation may be a critical factor in determining eating behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of heat pre-treatment temperature on isolation of hydrogen producing functional consortium from soil

A functional hydrogen producing consortium was isolated from soil by heat pre-treatment technique and hydrogen production at different substrate concentration was evaluated. The forest soil was heat pre-treated at 65, 80, 95, 105 and 120 °C temperature for 1 h. As revealed by PCR-DGGE analysis and hydrogen yield, the hydrogen producing microbial community changed with increase in heat pre-treatment temperatures giving potential hydrogen producing consortium at 95–105 °C soil pre-treatment. The maximum hydrogen production rate, hydrogen yield and cumulative hydrogen with 15–20 g glucose were 1390–1576 mL/L/day, 1.83–1.93 mol H₂/mol glucose, and 2966–3146 mL H₂/L, respectively. The metabolic pathways shifted from ethanol-type to acetate–formate type as soil pre-treatment temperature increased from 65 to 120 °C. The soil heat pre-treatment approach is effective for isolating hydrogen producing natural Clostridium consortium from the soil as enumerations of the functional strains need specific temperature range to florish.     

Early detection of aluminum corrosion via “turn-on” fluorescence in smart coatings

In the present work we describe the successful application of spiro[1H-isoindole-1,9′-[9H]xanthen]-3(2H)-one, 3′,6′-bis(diethylamino)-2-[(1-methylethylidene)amino](“FD1”) as a “turn-on” early aluminum corrosion detector in epoxy coatings. Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) and ¹H NMR investigations have revealed that the non-fluorescent FD1 is sensitive to low pH due to its acid-catalyzed hydrolysis to Rhodamine B hydrazide (RBH) that subsequently becomes protonated to its fluorescent ring-opened form. Both clear and filled FD1-containing smart epoxy coatings were capable of sensing acidic pH produced at the anodic site of localized aluminum corrosion at a low indicator concentration (0.5 wt%), which was demonstrated by the observation of fluorescent, bright-orange areas corresponding to localized pitting corrosion of the aluminum substrate illuminated by a handheld UV lamp. Therefore, early corrosion of aluminum can be easily and nondestructively detected via our “turn-on” fluorescence strategy.     

Pasteurization of milk and the heat resistance of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis: a critical review of the data

Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (M. paratuberculosis) causes Johne's disease in ruminants (including cattle, sheep and goats) and other animals, and may contribute to Crohn's disease in humans. This possibility, and the fact that M. paratuberculosis may be present in raw milk, make it important to ensure that the heat treatment specified for pasteurization of milk will give acceptable inactivation of this bacterium, with an adequate margin of safety. Published studies of the heat resistance of this bacterium in milk have given widely differing results. Possible reasons for these differences, and the technical problems involved in the work, are reviewed. It is concluded that there is a need (i) for the adoption of an agreed Performance Criterion for pasteurization of milk in relation to this bacterium, (ii) a need for definitive laboratory experiments to understand and determine the heat resistance of M. paratuberculosis, and (iii) a need for an assessment of whether the minimum heat treatments specified at present for pasteurization of milk (Process Criteria) will meet the Performance Criterion for M. paratuberculosis. Measures are also required to ensure that commercial processes deliver continually the specified heat treatment, and to ensure that post-pasteurization contamination is avoided.