CRITERIA USED BY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ENGINEERS IN THE SELECTION OF AN INFORMATION SOURCE.

INVESTIGATED THE CRITERIA EMPLOYED BY ENGINEERS IN THE SELECTION OF VARIOUS TECHNICAL INFORMATION CHANNELS IN PROBLEM-SOLVING ENDEAVORS. FOCUSES ON THE RELATIONSHIPS OF CERTAIN CRITERIA IDENTIFIED IN PAST RESEARCH TO SUCH FACTORS AS FREQUENCY OF CHANNEL UTILIZATION AND THE RATE AT WHICH ENGINEERS ACCEPT OR REJECT TECHNICAL INFORMATION RECEIVED FROM SPECIFIC CHANNELS. A DIRECT RELATIONSHIP IS FOUND BETWEEN PERCEIVED ACCESSIBILITY OF INFORMATION CHANNELS AND SEVERAL OBJECTIVE MEASURES OF UTILIZATION, WHEREAS NO DEFINITE SUPPORT IS FOUND FOR THE HYPOTHESIS THAT THE CHANNELS PERCEIVED HIGHEST IN TECHNICAL QUALITY ARE THOSE USED MOST FREQUENTLY. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

VISUAL IMAGERY AND SUSCEPTIBILITY TO HYPNOSIS.

MEASURED VISUAL IMAGERY UNDER SENSORY RESTRICTION AND UNDER RHYTHMIC PHOTIC STIMULATION TO TEST THE HYPOTHESIS THAT HIGH VISUAL-IMAGERY INDIVIDUALS WOULD BE MORE SUSCEPTIBLE TO HYPNOSIS. SUPPORT FOR THE HYPOTHESIS WAS OBTAINED PRIMARILY FROM IMAGERY MEASURES THAT INSTRUCTED 784 STUDENTS TO TRY TO SEE CERTAIN SPECIFIED IMAGES. LITTLE SUPPORT WAS OBTAINED USING LESS PRESCRIPTIVE MEASURES TAPPING FREE, SPONTANEOUS IMAGERY. THE DIMENSIONS OF IMAGERY AND POSSIBLE SEX DIFFERENCES IN VISUAL IMAGERY WERE STUDIED. (29 REF.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

DETERMINATION of RESIDENCE TIME DISTRIBUTION of NONSETTLING FOOD PARTICLES IN VISCOUS FOOD CARRIER FLUIDS USING HALL EFFECT SENSORS

Hall effect sensors were used to determine residence time distributions for diced carrot particles in 4% Colflo 67 carrier fluid. Four sensors at either end of a 3.2 m long 2 in. IDF tube viscometer allowed residence times to be measured for carrot particles incorporating a ceramic magnet. Mean particle residence times were greater than mean bulk residence time for 8 mm diced carrots, whereas 15 mm carrots showed trials in which particles travelled faster than the bulk fluid. Increasing concentration of 15 mm diced carrots from 3.25, 6.30, 9.16 to 11.85% w/w resulted in decreasing mean particle residence times from 17.6, 17.0, 15.9 to 14.3 s, with minimum residence times of 16.4, 16.2, 14.8 and 13.4 s, respectively. This sensing technique operates through stainless steel, providing applications for UHT foods containing particles. In addition, the technique was not affected by high particle concentration, and will operate for any distribution of particle size, shape or type.     

Phase Behavior and Mechanical Properties of TripaImitin/Butterfat Mixtures

The functionality of butterfat can be improved by fractionation, a process that can be considered as enrichment of butterfat with long-chain saturated fatty acids. Model hard fractions were produced by adding tripalmitin to butterfat, in ratios from 0.9:0.1 through 0.1:0.9. The model system had very similar thermal behavior and mechanical properties to true fractions. The phase behavior of tripalmitin/butterfat mixtures was determined. Such butterfat fractions have potential as a moisture barrier in edible films and coatings. Tripalmitin-enriched butterfat is an alternative to hard butterfat fractions in some applications.     

On the Fracture of Glass Which Is Subjected to Slowly Increasing Stress

A single number called the "strength" does not serve to describe adequately the fracture properties of glass subjected to a slowly increasing tensile stress. Instead, it is found that the surface where fracture originates may be represented as a continuum over which flaws of differing "critical breaking stresses" are distributed. The distribution function for the flaws is given by S σ where σ is the tensile stress initiating fracture and S and b are constants which are properties of the surface for slowly increasing stresses. The testing procedure and nature of the flaws are discussed.     

Imaging applications of synchrotron X-ray phase-contrast microtomography in biological morphology and biomaterials science. I. General aspects of the technique and its advantages in the analysis of millimetre-sized arthropod structure

Synchrotron‐generated X‐rays provide scientists with a multitude of investigative techniques well suited for the analysis of the composition and structure of all types of materials and specimens. Here, we describe the properties of synchrotron‐generated X‐rays and the advantages that they provide for qualitative morphological research of millimetre‐sized biological organisms and biomaterials. Case studies of the anatomy of insect heads, of whole microarthropods and of the three‐dimensional reconstruction of the cuticular tendons of jumping beetles, all performed at the beamline ID19 of the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), are presented to illustrate the techniques of phase‐contrast tomography available for anatomical and structural investigations. Various sample preparation techniques are described and compared and experimental settings that we have found to be particularly successful are given. On comparing the strengths and weaknesses of the technique with traditional histological thin sectioning, we conclude that synchrotron radiation microtomography has a great potential in biological microanatomy.     

Linking Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services data with prospective DCOR trial data: Methods and data comparison results

The Dialysis Clinical Outcomes Revisited (DCOR) trial was a large randomized, multicenter 3‐year trial comparing the effects of sevelamer with calcium‐based binders on mortality, hospitalization, morbidity, and medical costs in hemodialysis subjects. Dialysis Clinical Outcomes Revisited was prospectively designed to link subjects to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services End‐Stage Renal Disease (CMS ESRD) database to collect additional baseline characteristic data and to enhance outcome evaluation. Subjects were linked to the CMS ESRD database by means of an algorithm using several patient identifiers. Some baseline characteristic data were collected exclusively from the CMS ESRD database. Mortality and hospitalization end points were obtained from the CMS ESRD database and compared with similar data collected prospectively into a case‐report form (CRF) database. Of the 2103 patients who participated in the DCOR study, 2101 were successfully linked to the CMS ESRD database. Patient baseline data showed that treatment groups were well‐balanced, except that a higher proportion of subjects in the calcium‐based binder group had atherosclerotic heart disease. Calculated mortality rates were similar between databases, but more deaths were identified in the CMS than in the CRF database. These additional deaths were verified through several sources. More hospitalizations were also detected in the CMS than in the CRF database. The CMS database was a good source of death end points and hospitalization occurrence. Linking patients to the data‐rich CMS ESRD database allowed assessment of additional important secondary end points at a relatively low cost compared with prospective data collection.     

Effect of Air Flow and Acceleration on Particle Size of Dry Powder Aerosols determined by Time-of-Flight Aerosol Beam Spectrometry

ABSTRACT

The effect of air flow and acceleration on the particle size distributions of two Turbuhalers containing drug loads of 0.5 and 1.3 mg per dose was determined with a time-of-flight aerosol beam spectrometer (Aerosizer®). While the particle size of both inhalers decreased with increasing flow and acceleration, the distributions became narrower and variability was reduced. Simultaneously, a decrease in the number and mass of particles measured was observed which was more pronounced for the 1.3 mg dose. Additionally the count rate for the 1.3 mg dose was lower than for 0.5 mg. These observations were accompanied by a remarkably fine particle size distribution for the high dose Turbuhaler®. It was concluded that the quantity of particles in the DPI aerosols exceeded the resolution of the Aerosizer, erroneously shifting the size distributions towards smaller diameters.

In addition, the DPI aerosols were analyzed with a Four Stage Impinger to evaluate the results. The particle size estimates obtained using the impinger were in the same range as those obtained at an acceleration of 5 L/s2 using the Aerosizer to study the 0.5 mg Turbuhaler. The Aerosizer produced significantly smaller particle sizes than the impinger in all cases evaluating the 1.3 mg Turbuhaler, supporting the theory of distorted particle size distributions due to particle overload.     

BIOFILM FORMATION BY SALMONELLA SPP. ON CANTALOUPE MELONS**

The ability of two strains of Salmonella to form biofilms on whole cantaloupe melons was investigated. Ten microliters of bacterial suspensions was spot‐inoculated onto cantaloupe melon rinds in pre‐marked areas, and the cantaloupe melons were held at either 10 or 20C. Biofilm formation was monitored using scanning electron microscopy on excised portions of the cantaloupe melon rind at 2, 24, 48, 72 and 144 h postinoculation. Micrographs indicated that biofilm formation occurred rapidly following introduction of cells (2 h at 20C) onto the cantaloupe melon rind. A fibrillar material was visible after just 2 h at 20C, and cells were embedded in extracellular polymeric material after 24 h at either temperature. These results indicate that a human pathogen is capable of forming a biofilm on plant tissue and that biofilm formation may be responsible for the increased recalcitrance of bacteria to aqueous sanitizers.