Eye movement as a cue to figure motion in anorthoscopic perception.

When a figure moves behind a narrow aperture in an opaque surface, if it is perceived as a figure, its shape will often appear distorted. Under such anorthoscopic conditions, the speed or direction of the object's motion is ambiguous. However, when the observer simultaneously tracks a moving target, a figure is always perceived, and its precise shape is a function of the speed or direction of tracking. The figure is seen as moving with the speed or in the direction of the target. Thus, it is argued that eye movement serves as a cue to the figure's motion, which, in turn, determines its perceived length or orientation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Lipolysis and lipid oxidation during chilled storage of meat from Large White and Pietrain pigs

The day after slaughter, six chops of Longissimus lumborum from each of 10 Large White pigs and six Piétrain pigs were packed individually under vacuum and kept at 3-4?°C in the dark. At 1, 5 and 9 days after slaughter, two chops were used for analysis of lipids, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), sarcoplasmic Ca(2+) and sarcoplasm and mitochondria phospholipase A(2) activity. Free fatty acid content was higher in Piétrains than in Large Whites and increased with keeping time. Total lipids of Large White pigs contained more saturated fatty acid (SFA) and monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) and less polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA). Large Whites had less dioleoyl-linoleyl-glycerol (OOL) and Palmitoyl-oleoyl-linoleyl-glycerol (POL) and more Palmitoyl-oleoyl-stearyl-glycerol (POS) than Piétrains. The percentages of SFA and MUFA decreased and the percentage of PUFA increased with time in FFA of Large White pigs. In Piétrains, similar changes were observed between days 1 and 5, but later the percentages of SFA increased and the percentage of PUFA decreased again. TBARS tended to increase with time particularly in Piétrains. Sarcoplasmic phospholipase A(2) decreased between days 5 and 9 in both breeds. Sarcoplasmic calcium was markedly higher at day 1 in Piétrains than in Large Whites then the difference decreased. These breed differences in lipid composition differences and lipid changes during storage are considered too small to be of practical importance, for instance in influencing the choice of a breed for pork production.     

Varying dietary fiber for lactating cows fed corn and barley silages

Seventy-five lactating cows were in three experiments to determine the effect of dietary fiber content on ration intake, milk and milk fat production, ration digestibility, nitrogen utilization, and ruminal volatile fatty acids. With corn or barley silage as the source of forage, four treatment groups consumed rations averaging 11.8, 14.5, 17.5, and 20.6% crude fiber and 14.3, 17.5, 20.0, and 23.9% acid detergent fiber dry basis. Fiber intake was controlled by the amount and fiber content of concentrate offered or by silages with different grain content. With corn silage, dry matter intake was not altered by dietary fiber, but dry matter intake was lower when additional fiber was fed with barlev silage. Linear regressions best described effects of dietary fiber on milk production and milk fat content. Milk production declined .39 and .36 kg and milk fat test increased .072 and .067% for each percentage increase in crude and acid detergent fiber. Ration digestibility, determined by lignin ratio, was less for barley silage than corn silage. Narrowing acetate: propionate ratios were evident when dietary fiber was lowered. From these experiments with silage based rations, either crude or acid-detergent fiber content of forage adequately describes feeds to serve as a basis for practically balancing rations for lactating cows.     

Smoking prevention: implications of study design, research setting, and goals.

Collaborations among various disciplines concerned with smoking prevention are gaining in currency. Such collaborations are predicated, in part, on recognizing both the implicit assumptions in different fields and the consequences of these assumptions. These issues, however, are often ignored in transdisciplinary research. In this article, we demonstrate how simple indices, such as the risk ratio, attributable fraction, or R(2), may have different implications for causal inference and interventions, depending on study setting and research goals.     

Effect of temperature and pressure on permeation,ageing and emissions of elastomers

This article details permeation tests that were performed on sheet samples of elastomers, over a wide range of pressures and temperatures, to study their effects on gas diffusion and solubility. It also explains how ageing is affected by gas permeation, and how the permeation test results can be used as input data for finite element analysis to aid the design of elastomeric components.     

A belongingness principle of motion perception

Four experiments are reported that investigated the role of the perceived coplanarity of a moving target with respect to a frame of reference in the third dimension on the perceived path of that target. When a target dot and small moving frame appeared coplanar, the dot's perceived trajectory was governed entirely by its changing position relative to the moving frame. However, when the target and a large stationary frame appeared in a different plane than the small moving frame, the motion of the dot was seen independently of the moving frame. The results support a belongingness principle of motion perception: The displacement of an object relative to a frame of reference to which it belongs governs its perceived path of motion.     

The origin of palmitic acid in brain of the developing rat

A rat milk substitute containing lower amounts of palmitic and oleic acid in the triacylglycerols in comparison to natural rat milk was fed to artificially reared rat pups from day 7 after birth to day 14. Pups reared by their mother served as controls. Free trideuterated (D₃) palmitic acid [(C²H₃)(CH₂)₁₄COOH, 98 atom % D] and free perdeuterated (D₃₁) palmitic acid [C₁₅ ²H₃₁COOH, 99 atom % D] in equal quantity were mixed into the triacylglycerols of the milk substitute in an amount equal to 100% of the palmitic acid in the triacylglycerols. A control milk substitute contained unlabeled free palmitic acid in an amount equal to 100% of the palmitic acid in the triacylglycerols of the milk substitute. The objective was to determine if palmitic acid in the diet contributed significantly to the palmitic acid content of developing brain and other organs. The methyl esters of the fatty acids were analyzed by gas chromatography and the palmitic acid methyl ester was examined by fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry. The proportion of deuterated methyl palmitate as a percentage of total palmitate was determined; 32% of the palmitic acid in liver and 12% of the palmitic acid in lung were trideuterated and perdeuterated palmitic acid in approximately equal amounts. The brain, by contrast, did not contain the deuterated palmitic acid moiety. Quantitation of palmitic acid and total fatty acids revealed a significant accumulation in organs in the interval from 7 to 14 days of age. Under our experimental conditions, labeled palmitic acid does not enter the brain. Consequently, we conclude that the developing brain produces all required palmitic acid byde novo synthesis.     

The varying faces of thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura

We report a 3-year-old girl with fetal hydantoin syndrome (FHS) whose mother had received phenytoin 600 mg/day throughout gestation. She had growth retardation, mental deficiency, craniofacial dysmorphism and iris colomobata specific to FHS. However, the patient did not have the distal phalangeal hypoplasia which is associated with FHS; instead, she had polydactyly of the right foot. This seems to be the first FHS case in the literature with polydactyly.