Methodology of penile isotope imaging. Evaluation]

Increased mortality in a flock of non-breeding mute swans (Cygnus olor) on a Scottish loch was investigated. Postmortem examinations were carried out on eight adult and six immature swans. The commonest cause of death, found in eight birds, was lead poisoning associated with the ingestion of large lead fishing weights. Heavy parasitic burdens were found in five immature birds, involving combinations of the gizzard worm Amidostomum species, the thornyheaded worms Polymorphus minutus and Profilicollis anatis, and the tracheal trematode Orchipedum tracheicola. Other parasites of lesser significance were the biting louse Trinoton anserinum, the tapeworm Wardoides nyrocae, the hairworm Capillaria species and the intestinal trematode Echinoparyphium recurvatum. Eight of the 14 swans carried trematodes of the family Schistosomatidae, which may be involved in human cercarial dermatitis or 'swimmers' itch'. It is suggested that the increased mortality arose through a combination of increased numbers of swans on the loch, and a fall in the water level of the loch which exposed the birds to previously inaccessible lead fishing weights and to the intermediate hosts of a range of internal parasites.     

Nonwoven as heat barrier: Modeling of the efficiency of Carbtex fibers

In this work, we examine the use of nonwoven (NW) as heat barrier to protect a metallic substrate. Carbtex fibers consisting in a thermoplastic core inside an oxidized outer shell (polyacrylonitrile or PAN fibers) are selected to make the NW. Measuring temperature profiles in a heat radiator test; it is revealed that Carbtex NW is an efficient heat barrier. A macroscopic model is then developed to simulate heat transfer in NW (considered as a porous medium) used as a protective heat barrier on aluminum plate. The model is validated comparing experimental results obtained by the heat radiator test and predicted values. The efficiency of NW layer is simulated varying different parameters characteristic of the NW (porosity and heat conductivity) and of the design (thickness of the layer). It is revealed to get good efficiency of the NW heat barrier that heat conductivity of the fibers is crucial to get superior performance as well as high porosity (higher than 0.5) associated with a reasonable thickness of NW (5–7 mm). © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

Spatiotemporal sequencing processes of pedestrians in urban retail environments

In this article, the authors determine the extent to which several decision heuristics are present in pedestrians' spatial shopping behavior in downtown retail environments. Two factors, length of the observed route and observed sequence in which destinations are visited, were used to define temporal heuristics. Further, two spatial heuristics were investigated: the tendency of some pedestrians to choose first the destination farthest away from the point they entered the city center and the tendency of others to choose first the destination closest to their entry point. Empirical analysis demonstrated that only a small proportion of the pedestrians reveals optimal choice behavior.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 11th Pacific Conference, Singapore, July 1989.     

High‐Throughput Differentiation of Embryonic Stem Cells into Cardiomyocytes with a Microfabricated Magnetic Pattern and Cyclic Stimulation

Pluripotent stem cells are central tools to many regenerative medicine strategies due to their ability to differentiate toward the three embryonic germ layers. One challenge remains in providing control over their differentiation into specific lineages, such as cardiac commitment. Here, the possibility of directing cardiomyogenesis of embryonic stem cells using a microfabricated magnetic pattern is demonstrated. The stem cells are labeled with magnetic nanoparticles, aggregated into embryoid bodies (EBs) onto the pattern, and stimulated with a local magnetic force applied via the pattern. The EBs formed on this magnetic device experience the same differentiation profile as the ones created by the common hanging drop approach, while it allows high‐throughput production of hundreds of EBs. Further on/off cyclic magnetic force stimulation mediated by the same device is sufficient to enhance cardiomyogenesis in a way that almost all EBs develop spontaneous beating, confirmed by the overexpression of α‐actin and troponin proteins, and by the upregulation (twofold to fivefold) of genes involved in mesoderm differentiation (Nkx2.5, Gata4, and Gata6), and more specifically cardiac lineage (Tnnt2, Myh6, and Myl‐2). Beyond holding high application‐level potential, this work confirms that physical forces, and specifically on/off dynamic ones can be sufficient to govern cell function.     

Electrodeposition of insulating poly(phenylene oxide) films with variable thickness

Ability to control key characteristics of electrodeposited polymers plays a vital role for their applications. In this work the results on tailoring the thickness of electronically insulating poly(phenylene oxide) (PPO) type polymer films have been showed. Pinhole‐free PPO films with variable thickness in the range of 10–50 nm were grown by controlling the potential applied during the electrochemical polymerization on the surface of titanium nitride (TiN) substrates. The insulating properties of the PPO film were confirmed by testing its permeability to redox species by cyclic voltammetry. Thermal stability of the PPO films with different thicknesses was investigated by in‐situ spectroscopic ellipsometry up to 400 °C in various environments. This insight is important for the optimization of the PPO anneal conditions in order to remove the residual solvent and potentially improve the polymer chains stacking. Our results provide the basis for electrodeposition of PPO films with variable thickness for diverse applications. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017 , 134, 44533.     

Electric current partition during vacuum arc remelting of steel: An experimental study

This paper describes measurements of the voltage and temperature profiles in a vacuum arc remelting (VAR) crucible during a series of melts of a 40CrMoV13-9 steel alloy electrode, which were used to obtain information about the current flows in the furnace. The results derived included the current leaving the crucible above the ingot crown, the current flowing between the crucible and the crown, the current transferred between the crucible and the ingot lateral surface and the current flowing through the ingot bottom. It was established that the crown (observed to be 5–10 cm high) played a predominant role in the current distribution, as the crown carried more than 50% of the furnace current. A small but non negligible fraction of the furnace current (about 10%), which represents the lower limit of the side-arcing current, was found to leave the crucible above the crown. The effect of the arc gap length on the current distribution was examined, but no general trend was clearly identified. Finally, a summary of the results reported in this study and those previously obtained in the literature is presented. Significant differences regarding the estimated amount of the side arcing current were noted that did not seem to be directly related to the changes in the remelted materials or melting conditions. It was pointed out that a detailed understanding of the current partition in the furnace requires additional experimental and theoretical study to clarify the path of the current flowing through the ingot crown.     

A knowledge-based system for developing retail location strategies

This paper proposes a knowledge-based system to support the analysis of problems and formulation of actions in the field of retail location planning. The decision table is used as a formalism for representing an exhaustive and exclusive set of decision rules typically used by Dutch planners and retailers. The proposed model is implemented in a knowledge-based system where it can be used interactively in combination with conventional spatial models for predicting and analysing retail system operations. A case study in the area of daily good facilities demonstrates the approach. The major conclusion is that the knowledge-based approach and in particular the decision table technique may assist planners/retailers to effectively structure complex retail location problems.     

Influence of food odorant names on the verbal measurement of emotions

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of food odorant names on feelings through the verbal measurement of emotions. Two experiments were conducted. In the first experiment, 88 participants were asked to report their feelings about 17 food odorants, randomly presented in six sensory booth sessions and in three conditions. In two conditions, an actual odorant was presented blind or in association with its name. In a third condition, only the odorant name was presented. Feeling measurements were conducted by using the ScentMove^TM questionnaire (Porcherot et al., 2010). Participants also rated the familiarity, acceptability, and typicality of the odorants. Results indicated that the odorant name information may influence the reported feelings, as already observed by several authors for traditional liking assessments, with differences among feeling dimensions and odorants. The odorants could be gathered into four groups, with either matches between expected feelings from the odorant name and experienced feelings from the smell evaluation for eight odorants (e.g., caramel, citrus, and mint), or discrepancies between expected and experience feelings for nine odorants, and with no effect of the odorant name information (e.g., strawberry, vanilla), few, or high positive effects of the odorant name information (e.g., cola, chicken). Typicality scores did not differ between the different groups, showing that higher odorant typicality would not systematically result in a match between expectation and experience, or in a positive effect of the name information. It was therefore investigated in a second experiment if the group constitution could be explained by the odorant recognition scores that were measured from a free recognition task for the 17 odorants presented in the blind condition. The results of the two experiments are discussed in relation to dissimilarities between smell and food experiences and to lack of context.     

Understanding pregnant women's decision making concerning prenatal screening.

Objective: This study is aimed at enhancing understanding prenatal screening decision making through testing a hypothesized decision model based on decision theory and health behavior theory. Design: We obtained questionnaires from 1,666 pregnant women who were offered prenatal screening for Down's syndrome. Path analysis (using LISREL) resulted in a final model with reasonable model fit, which was verified by split-sample cross-validation. Main outcome measures: These included perceived probability, perceived severity, attitude toward termination, response efficacy, attitude toward prenatal screening, subjective norm, child-related anxiety, and intention to undergo prenatal screening. Results: Attitude toward termination of pregnancy, perceived test efficacy, and subjective norm regarding the desirability of having prenatal screening determined a woman's attitude toward having a prenatal test. Anxiety was influenced by perceived risk and perceived severity of having a child with Down's syndrome, and by subjective norm, but this appeared to be a weak predictor of intention to test. Pregnant women with a positive attitude toward prenatal screening, and who perceived a subjective norm in favor of undergoing prenatal screening, showed a greater intention to have prenatal screening done. Conclusion: These findings suggest that more attention should be paid toward the values and social context of pregnant women during the counseling process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Specifying what makes a personal memory unique enhances emotion regulation.

During recollection of past experiences, the way autobiographical information is processed affects the intensity of the emotion aroused. Two main hypotheses were proposed in this respect: One focuses on the type of information activated during retrieval; the second is centered on the mode of processing at work. This article defends the notion that both perspectives need to be integrated to predict emotional arousal during autobiographical recollection. The authors explored the consequences on emotional feeling intensity by manipulating the type of information processed, together with the cognitive mode activated (specific vs. general level of processing). Results support previous findings that voluntarily specifying memories reduces emotional intensity. However, this was observed only when the details that make the event unique were processed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)