Fungi associated with Indonesian dried fish

The mycoflora of dried salted fish from Indonesia was studied, with emphasis on visibly spoiled fish and spoilage fungi. A total of 364 isolates from 74 fish were cultured and identified. The most prevalent fungus was a previously undescribed species, now named Polypaecilum pisce, which was isolated from 42% of the fish examined, in extreme cases appearing as conspicuous white growth over large areas of the fish surface. Other frequently isolated species were Eurotium rubrum (35%), E. repens (26%), E. amstelodami (22%), E. chevalieri (18%), Aspergillus niger (37%), A. flavus (27%), A. sydowii (23%), A. penicilloides (16%) and A. wentii (15%). A variety of Penicillium species and species from 17 other genera were isolated less frequently.     

Quality Improvement of Fresh-Cut Endive (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Cichorium endivia</Emphasis> L.) and Recycling of Washing Water by Low-Dose UV-C Irradiation

Superficial short-wavelength ultraviolet (UV-C) treatment (1.2 kJ/m²) of fresh-cut endive was combined with conventional cold (4 °C, 120 s) and innovative warm (45 °C, 120 s) water washing prior to and after irradiation in order to improve its microbial and sensory quality including physiological properties. UV-C doses applied exerted only minor physiological stress on the plant tissue, irrespective of the washing procedure as indicated by largely unaltered headspace gas compositions, chlorophyll fluorescence maximum quantum yields (F _v/F _m), and retention of chlorophylls and β-carotene. Independent of the washing procedure applied, phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL), polyphenol oxidase (PPO), and peroxidase (POD) activities were slightly inhibited by UV-C irradiation. As a result of UV-C irradiation, significantly improved microbiological and sensory quality was retained during the entire storage period, particularly, when applied after washing. Being applicable in organic fresh-cut production, UV-C represents a valuable alternative to chlorine application to washing water. The most efficient decontamination (2.1 log₁₀ units) of fresh-cut endive was achieved by combining warm water washing with subsequent UV-C irradiation. Furthermore, when UV-C lamps were integrated into the water tank of a continuous industrial washing machine, the microbial loads of the process water were also significantly lowered. Accordingly, in-line UV-C decontamination of process water may be instrumental in minimizing both fresh water consumption and the risk of cross-contamination.     

Theoretical claims necessitate basic research: Reply to Gawronski, Lebel, Peters, and Banse (2009) and Nosek and Greenwald (2009).

The authors of this reply article note that B. Gawronski, E. P. LeBel, K. R. Peters, and R. Banse (see record 2009-05290-002) (a) expressed agreement in their comment with the analysis put forward in the target article (J. De Houwer, S. Teige-Mocigemba, A. Spruyt, & A. Moors) (see record 2009-05290-001) and (b) pointed to a further implication for the way in which the implicitness of a measure should be examined. The current authors note that B. A. Nosek and A. G. Greenwald (see record 2009-05290-003), on the other hand, raised questions in their comment about the definition of the concept “implicit” in the target article, arguing for a fundamentally different approach to measurement that emphasizes not theoretical understanding but usefulness for predicting behavior. In this reply, the current authors respond to these comments and argue that when theoretical claims are made about measures, these claims should be backed up with appropriate evidence. In the absence of basic research, measures and their relation to behavior can only be described. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Child maltreatment polyvictimization: Rates and short-term effects on adjustment in a representative Hong Kong sample.

Objective: This article examines the unique effects of multiple forms of victimization, namely child abuse and neglect (CAN) and exposure to parental intimate partner violence (IPV), on children's self-blame, feelings of being threatened, self-esteem, and ability to control anger. Method: The cross-sectional study recruited a population-based sample of 2,062 children aged 12–17 years in Hong Kong. Structured questionnaires were used to collect data from the children. The prevalence rate of the co-occurrence of exposure to IPV and CAN in the Chinese population, and the unique impacts of exposure to IPV and CAN on children were examined. Results: The results show that 13.1% of the children had experienced CAN, and 6.5% had witnessed parental IPV. Among those families characterized by IPV, 61.1% were involved in child abuse in the preceding year of the study. Participants who had experienced both CAN and exposure to parental IPV reported lower levels of self-esteem and higher rates of being aggressive and violent, and feeling threatened. These children also reported the highest levels of feeling that their well-being was threatened and of blaming themselves for parental violence and parental discipline. Conclusions: The findings reemphasize the important need for public policy on child and youth victimization that encourages social workers and Child Protective Services to screen for child polyvictimization in cases of suspected/reported child abuse. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive and neuropathologic correlates of Stroop Color-Word Test performance in Alzheimer's disease.

The Stroop Color-Word Test (SCWT; C. Golden, 1978) was examined in 59 patients with probable Alzheimer's disease (AD) and in 51 demographically comparable normal control (NC) participants. AD patients produced significantly larger Stroop interference effects than NC participants, and level of dementia severity significantly influenced SCWT performance. Principal -components analyses demonstrated a dissociation in the factor structure of the Stroop trials between NC participants and AD patients, suggesting that disruption of semantic knowledge and speeded verbal processing in AD may be a major contributor to impairment on the incongruent trial. Results of clinicopathologic correlations in an autopsy-confirmed AD subgroup further suggest the invocation of a broad network of integrated cortical regions and executive and language processes underlying successful SCWT performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Home and mother: Relations with infant temperament.

Mothers of about 100 toddlers at 12, 18, and 24 months completed the Toddler Temperament Scale. Three other data sets were also available: (a) factors representing lab observations; (b) measures of the mothers who completed the Thurstone Temperament Schedule and ratings made by a social worker of the mother's home; and (c) home measures from Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment and the Family Environment Scale. Direct correlations between the first principal component factor from the Toddler Temperament Scale and the corresponding component from the lab factor were .50, .36, .52, at 12, 18, and 24 months, respectively. Maternal characteristics—emotional stability and social dominance—from the Thurstone Temperament Schedule were related to maternal ratings of the toddler on the Toddler Temperament Scale at all ages (rs?=?.25 to .46). There were only a few low-order correlations from environmental characteristics. A regression analysis, with lab factors entered first, indicated that, after the lab component was extracted, maternal temperament made a modest but significant contribution to maternal reports of toddler temperament. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Atomic-level molecular modeling of the nonionic surfactant Triton X-100: the OPE9 component in vacuum and water

The commercially available nonionic surfactant Triton X-100 is a mixture of polyoxyethylene tert-octylphenyl ethers (OPE_n) with an average of n = 9.5 oxyethylene (OE) units in the molecules, and the population maximum at n = 9. Thus, the OPE_{n = 9} component was chosen to be studied by atomic level molecular modeling, using second-generation force fields. The 1,000 conformers generated via random sampling of torsional angles around single bonds yielded 11 clusters based on geometrical similarity. Representatives of geometrically distinctly different clusters with significant populations were chosen from a narrow energy range around the most probable energy to be analyzed for interaction with water. The effect of water on the conformation of the OE chain was found to be modest, similar to the situation that had been reported earlier for the anionic surfactant Aerosol-OT (AOT). The number of bound water molecules is strongly dependent on the conformation of the OE chain and is affected by electrostatic as well as steric effects. Unlike the case of AOT, for which the length of the hydrophobic tail was found to govern the size of reverse micelles in CCl₄, the size of reverse micelles of OPE_{n = 9} cannot be predicted from the dimensions of the hydrophilic tail.     

Adsorption characteristics of polyacrylamide and sulfonate-containing polyacrylamide copolymers on sodium kaolinite

Polyacrylamide and its copolymer containing 6.8 mole % 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid were prepared by an irradiation-initiated precipitation polymerization technique. The polymer was characterized by intrinsic viscosity under conditions similar to those used during adsorption measurements. Hydrolytic degradation of the polyacrylamide was found to be negligible under conditions used. The adsorption substrate, sodium kaolinite, was prepared by extensive ion exchange treatment. Equilibrium adsorption of the polymers on the sodium kaolinite was made as a function of polymer concentration, solution pH, ionic strength, and temperature.     

Reactivity imaging of a passive ferritic FeAlCr steel

A technique named reactivity imaging is introduced. It combines optical imaging of a polycrystalline material with orientation imaging by electron back scattering diffraction (EBSD) for a determination of the crystallographic orientation map and scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) for a visualization of the local reactivity. Dissolving metal ions from the substrate are directly detected by the scanning Pt tip of the SECM to measure the amount of locally dissolving material. A ferritic light weight steel (alloy Fe7.5Al7Cr) with a strong anisotropic dissolution behaviour was investigated as an example. This steel shows good passivation behaviour both, in air and through anodisation. In the passive state investigated here, the difference in dissolution rate between various crystallographic orientations is only marginal. Grain boundaries on the other hand showed a higher activity as compared to the grains themselves, which is attributed to the electronic tunnelling in the grain boundaries. The results demonstrate that the rate determining step responsible for the anisotropic dissolution does not result from a deficiency in passivation but from the active dissolution kinetics.