Recollection and familiarity in recognition memory: Adult age differences and neuropsychological test correlates.

Dual process theories account for age-related changes in memory by proposing that old age is associated with deficits in recollection together with invariance in familiarity. The authors evaluated this proposal in recognition by examining recollection and familiarity estimates in young and older adults across 3 process estimation methods: inclusion/exclusion, remember/know, and receiver operating characteristics (ROC). Consistent with a previous literature review (Light, Prull, LaVoie, & Healy, 2000), the authors found age invariance in familiarity when process estimates were derived from the inclusion/exclusion method, but the authors found age differences favoring the young when familiarity estimates were derived from the remember/know and ROC methods. Recollection estimates were lower for older adults in all 3 methods. Recollection and familiarity had variable relationships with frontal- and temporal-lobe measures of neuropsychological functioning in older adults, depending on which method was used to generate process estimates. These data suggest that although recollection deficits appear to be the rule in aging, not all estimates of familiarity show age invariance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Do response time limitations counteract the effect of faking on personality inventory validity?

Different models of lying on personality scales make discrepant predictions on the association between faking and item response time. The current research investigated response time restriction as a method for reducing the influence of faking on personality scale validity. In 3 assessment simulations involving 540 university undergraduates responding to 2 common, psychometrically strong personality inventories, no evidence emerged to indicate that limiting respondents' answering time can attenuate the effects of faking on validity. Results were interpreted as failing to support a simple model of personality test item response dissimulation that predicts that lying takes time. Findings were consistent with models implying that lying involves primitive cognitive processing or that lying may be associated with complex processing that includes both primitive responding and cognitive overrides. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

重要林业蛀干害虫花曲柳窄吉丁研究现状

花曲柳窄吉丁(Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire)是我国重要的林业危险性害虫,目前发现其主要危害木犀科(Oleaceae)白蜡属(Fraxinus)的一些重要林木.它主要分布于东北亚一些国家,近年来在北美的一些地区也发现其对当地的白蜡树造成了严重危害.花曲柳窄吉丁幼虫在树皮下形成层区域蛀食危害,扁圆形坑道横向弯曲切断输导组织,使树木衰弱致死.本文对此害虫的生物学和危害特点、在我国不同地区的发育生活史、天敌昆虫和病原微生物以及控制技术等方面的研究现状进行了综述.     

Using synthetically modified proteins to make new materials

The uniquely diverse structures and functions of proteins offer many exciting opportunities for creating new materials with advanced properties. Exploiting these capabilities requires a set of versatile chemical reactions that can attach nonnatural groups to specific locations on protein surfaces. Over the years, we and others have developed a series of new techniques for protein bioconjugation, with a particular emphasis on achieving high site selectivity and yield. Using these reactions, we have been able to prepare a number of new materials with functions that depend on both the natural and the synthetic components. In this Account, we discuss our progress in protein bioconjugation over the past decade, focusing on three distinct projects. We first consider our work to harness sunlight artificially by mimicking features of the photosynthetic apparatus, with its beautifully integrated system of chromophores, electron transfer groups, and catalytic centers. Central to these photosystems are light-harvesting antennae having hundreds of precisely aligned chromophores with positions that are dictated by the proteins within the arrays. Our approach to generating similar arrangements involves the self-assembly of tobacco mosaic virus coat proteins bearing synthetic chromophore groups. These systems offer efficient light collection, are easy to prepare, and can be used to build complex photocatalytic systems through the modification of multiple sites on the protein surfaces. We then discuss protein-based carriers that can deliver drugs and imaging agents to diseased tissues. The nanoscale agents we have built for this purpose are based on the hollow protein shell of bacteriophage MS2. These 27 nm capsids have 32 pores, which allow the entry of relatively large organic molecules into the protein shell without requiring disassembly. Our group has developed a series of chemical strategies that can install dyes, radiolabels, MRI contrast agents, and anticancer drugs on the inside surface of these capsids. We have also developed methods to decorate the external surfaces with binders for specific proteins on cancer cells. As a third research area, our group has developed protein-polymer hybrid materials for water remediation. To reduce the toxicity of heavy metals in living cells, Nature has evolved metallothioneins, which are sulfur-rich polypeptides that bind mercury, cadmium, and other toxic ions at sub-parts-per-billion concentrations. Unfortunately, these proteins are very difficult to incorporate into polymers, largely because typical protein modification reactions target the very cysteine, lysine, and carboxylate-containing residues that are required for their proper function. To address this challenge, we developed a new way to attach these (and many other) proteins to polymer chains by expressing them as part of an N- and C-terminal modification "cassette". The resulting materials retain their selectivity and can remove trace amounts of toxic metal ions from ocean water. Each of these examples has presented a new set of protein bioconjugation challenges that have been met through the development of new reaction methodology. Future progress in the generation of protein-based materials will require scalable synthetic techniques with improved yields and selectivities, inexpensive purification methods for bioconjugates, and theoretical and dynamical treatments for designing new materials through protein self-assembly.     

One-trial associative priming of nonwords in young and older adults.

In this article, three experiments in which single-trial associative priming for nonwords was investigated in young and older adults in a pronunciation task are reported. During an encoding task, associative priming was observed for young and older adults, although cued recall was near zero for both groups. Associative priming for young and older adults was found under full attention conditions, but when attention was divided at study, associative priming was observed in Experiment 3, but not in Experiment 2. Divided attention also disrupted recognition memory for new associations in young and older adults. The results limit the generality of findings of age-related decrements in associative priming by showing an absence of such decrements in tasks that do not require elaborative processing during encoding. They also argue against G. Musen and L. Squire's (see record 1993-34212-001) suggestion that formation of new connections in implicit memory requires multiple study opportunities, whereas declarative memory is specialized for rapid acquisition of new associations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parallel implementation for iterative image restoration algorithms on a parallel DSP machine

Many low-level image processing algorithms which are posed as variational problems can be numerically solved using local and iterative relaxation algorithms. Because of the structure of these algorithms, processing time will decrease nearly linearly with the addition of processing nodes working in parallel on the problem. In this article, we discuss the implementation of a particular application from this class of algorithms on the 8×8 processing array of the AT&T Pixel system. In particular, a case study for a image interpolation algorithm is presented. The performance of the implementation is evaluated in terms of the absolute processing time. We show that near linear speedup is achieved for such iterative image processing algorithms when the processing array is relatively small.This work was made possible by a grant from the AT&T University Equipment Program.     

IT Power and the Postemptive Strike

A postemptive strike strategy positions a firm to quickly catch up with or surpass an industry leader's successful application of technology, thereby reducing the risks associated with pioneering efforts while increasing the chances for long-term profitability. Information and technology serve complementary roles in the strategy: information internal and external to the firm lays the groundwork for devising the strategy and advanced IT provides the power to enact it.     

Changing patterns of communication among scientists in an era of “telescience”

In a work environment filled with computers, telephones, fax machines, and other telecommunications equipment, scientists can engage in a new way of conducting their research: telescience. Telescience, a term that originated at NASA, is defined as the existence of geographically dispersed, intensely communicative research groups and collaborators, electronic journals, and teleconferences. The concept seems to be a natural outgrowth of the development of “big science” in the postwar era—only now, instead of an increase in the number of journal articles or organized scientific meetings, there is an increase in the amount of interpersonal interaction facilitated by the new electronic infrastructure. It is not yet clear that telescience will become the mode in most scholarly disciplines, for a number of economic and cultural reasons. However, where it does appear, it may emerge at different rates in different disciplines as the nature and needs of those specialties encourage the differential adoption of the various telecommunications technologies. In this article, the communication processes and structures that are typical of scientific activity are summarized according to a three-stage communication cycle. In addition, the factors that affect scientists' choices of both conventional and newer telecommunication channels are discussed, as well as the barriers that may prevent them from adopting or using such channels. Finally, the potential behavioral, social, and policy implications of the growth of telescience are reviewed, especially in the social context of the contemporary research university.