Volatile Constituents of Loquat (Eriobotrya japonica Lindl.) Fruit

Eighteen volatile compounds have been identified in a methylene chloride extract of a distilled fraction from loquat fruit. Individual compounds were identified by comparison of gas chromatographic retention times and mass spectra with those for authentic compounds. Major components phenyl ethyl alcohol, 3-hydroxy-2-butanone, phenylacetaldehyde and hexen-1-ols, and minor components, ethyl acetate, methyl cinnamate and β-ionone probably contribute to the fruity-floral flavor of the fruit.     

The dot pattern expectancy task: Reliability and replication of deficits in schizophrenia.

The dot pattern expectancy (DPX) task was created to efficiently assess context-processing deficits in patients with schizophrenia. Three studies investigated the characteristics of the DPX relevant for clinical applications. To answer questions regarding the psychometric properties of the task, performance on this task was studied in 2 healthy samples. Acceptable reliability and internal consistency and retest reliability were found for most measures of context processing, but not for a difficulty control condition. These characteristics were also found in a suggested brief version (DPXbrf), which may be more practical for clinical purposes. In a 3rd study, schizophrenia patients showed a specific deficit in context processing, replicating previous findings. Findings of these studies indicated some promise for use of this task in measuring context processing and also identified characteristics of this task that need to be strengthened to increase reliability, feasibility, and single-subject interpretability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Experimental analyses of collapse behaviors of braced elliptical tubes under lateral compression

A series of experiments were conducted for braced, elliptical tubes with semi-axes ratios, , ranging from 0.5 to 2 to verify the theoretical analysis results presented in a companion paper (Wu and Carney, Int. J. Mech. Sci., 1996). In that paper, mathematical models and finite element analyses (ABAQUS (Hibbitt, Karlsson and Sorensen, Inc. ABAQUS Manual, Version 5.3, [2])) were employed to study the initial collapse behavior of braced elliptical tubes. These mathematical and numerical predictions are compared with experimental results in this paper.     

Meta-analyzing the relationship between grades and job performance.

Employers and academics have differing views on the value of grades for predicting job performance. Employers often believe grades are useful predictors, and they make hiring decisions that are based on them. Many academics believe that grades have little predictive validity. Past meta-analyses of the grades–performance relationship have suffered either from small sample sizes or the inability to correct observed correlations for research artifacts. This study demonstrated the observed correlation between grades and job performance was .16. Correction for research artifacts increased the correlation to the .30s. Several factors were found to moderate the relationship. The most powerful factors were the year of research publication and the time between graduation and performance measurement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Medium Evaluation and Plastic Composite Support Ingredient Selection for Biofilm Formation and Succinic Acid Production by Actinobacillus succinogenes

Succinic acid production medium for Actinobacillus succinogenes was simplified. Vitamins and fatty acids were removed from the medium and industrial quality yeast extract was substituted to yield revised succinic acid medium. Customized plastic composite support (PCS) blends were screened for biofilm and succinic acid production. Twenty different PCS blends with and without mineral salt additions were evaluated in twenty simulated repeated-batch fermentations using MgCO₃ for pH control and CO₂ supply. Succinic acid concentrations, percentage yield succinic acid, and biofilm formation for each PCS blend were determined. No correlation was observed for biofilm formation and succinic acid production. The selected customized PCS blend for A. succinogenes succinic acid production consisted of 50% (wt/wt) polypropylene, 35% (wt/wt) dried ground soybean hulls, 5% (wt/wt) dried bovine albumin, 2.5% (wt/wt) soybean flour, 2.5% (wt/wt) yeast extract, 2.5% (wt/wt) dried red blood cells, and 2.5% (wt/wt) peptone, which demonstrated 70% yields for succinic acid compared to 64% yield for suspended cell fermentation.     

Exploring estimator bias-variance tradeoffs using the uniform CRbound

We introduce a plane, which we call the delta-sigma plane, that is indexed by the norm of the estimator bias gradient and the variance of the estimator. The norm of the bias gradient is related to the maximum variation in the estimator bias function over a neighborhood of parameter space. Using a uniform Cramer-Rao (CR) bound on estimator variance, a delta-sigma tradeoff curve is specified that defines an “unachievable region” of the delta-sigma plane for a specified statistical model. In order to place an estimator on this plane for comparison with the delta-sigma tradeoff curve, the estimator variance, bias gradient, and bias gradient norm must be evaluated. We present a simple and accurate method for experimentally determining the bias gradient norm based on applying a bootstrap estimator to a sample mean constructed from the gradient of the log-likelihood. We demonstrate the methods developed in this paper for linear Gaussian and nonlinear Poisson inverse problems     

Event-Related fMRI Study of Context Processing in Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex of Patients With Schizophrenia.

Context processing is conceptualized as an executive function involved in voluntary, complex actions such as overcoming automatic responses. The present study tested the hypothesis that context-processing deficits in patients with schizophrenia are associated with a dysfunction of left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). Using event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), 17 controls and 17 medicated patients performed a version of the AX task in which a learned, automatic response had to be inhibited. In controls, left DLPFC activity increased when preparing to overcome an automatic response, whereas patients with schizophrenia showed no differential activation. In controls, context processing appeared to be associated with the differential representation of cues associated with the need to provide top-down support for overcoming automatic responses. This mechanism appeared to be impaired in patients with schizophrenia. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Characterization of the melting and wetting of Sn-Ag-X solders

There is tremendous interest at present with Pb-free solder assembly in the surface mount assembly industry in response to recent Japanese and European initiatives and proposed governmental restrictions regarding Pb usage and disposal. Many different solder alloys have been proposed as potential Pb-free solder replacements and the most promising of these fall into the general alloy families of tin-silver (Sn-Ag), tin-silver-copper (Sn-Ag-Cu) and tin-silver-bismuth (Sn-Ag-Bi). Published melting point data on some of these alloys indicates that they should be capable of reduced reflow temperatures relative to the commonly available Sn-3.5Ag alloy, which melts at 221°C. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and reflow visualization was used to characterize the melting and wetting of the Pb-free alloys and generate the practical reflow temperature requirements. This was compared to the DSC data to gain insight on the meaning of the DSC melting data for surface mount applications. The results show that, in general, the wetting performance of the Sn-Ag-Bi alloys are more similar to Sn-Ag and Sn-Ag-Cu than would be predicted by the major onset melting temperature data as measured by the DSC     

Hostility and Distraction Have Differential Influences on Cardiovascular Recovery From Anger Recall in Women.

This study investigated the relation of dispositional hostility to cardiovascular reactivity during an anger-recall task and of hostility and distraction to posttask recovery in 80 healthy women (ages 18-30). Half were randomly assigned to distraction during recovery. Hostility predicted slower systolic blood pressure and preejection period during recovery. Distraction was related to faster cardiac recovery, higher high-frequency (HF) power, lower low-frequency (LF) power and LF:HF ratios, and lower state anger and rumination during recovery. These results indicate deleterious influences of hostility on cardiovascular recovery but not during anger recall. The findings also show beneficial effects of distraction in expediting cardiovascular recovery, possibly through reducing rumination and anger. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry Method for the Quantification of β-Casein Fragment (f 193-209)

ABSTRACT: Bitter cheese extract was incubated with cell-free extract of Lactobacillus helveticus strain WSU19. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) analysis showed an intense peak at m/z-1880 that was markedly reduced after a 24-h incubation, as was bitterness. The m/z-1880 peptide was identified as β-casein (f193-209). Synthetic β-casein (f193-209) was mixed with internal standards, asparagine or deuterated glutamine substitution in β-casein (f193-209). Concentration ratios of β-casein (f193-209) to internal standard were plotted against signal ratios. Plots were linear for both internal standards. This study shows that MALDI-TOF is a rapid method for measuring a specific peptide in cheese and may be useful for assessing cheese ripening and screening cultures for debittering activity.