Personality and having children: A two-way relationship.

Personality has been implicated in romantic and sexual relationships, but its association with childbearing is poorly understood. The authors assessed whether 3 personality traits--sociability, emotionality, and activity--predicted the probability of having children and whether having children predicted personality change. The participants were women and men from the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns study (N = 1,839) who were followed for 9 years. High emotionality decreased the probability of having children, whereas high sociability and, in men, high activity increased this probability. Having children predicted increasing emotionality, particularly in participants with high baseline emotionality and two or more children. In men, having children increased sociability in those with high baseline sociability and decreased sociability in those with low baseline sociability. These findings suggest a two-way relationship between personality and having children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

点光源的亮度表象

汽车里照明设备的要求通常通过如光强等参数来定义。反之,对信号灯的感知则由信号灯的亮度决定。为了引入新的光源(如LED)必须考虑一个新的因素———亮度的均匀度。1测量任务本实验中以刹车灯和车尾位置灯为例,在实验室和实际交通场景中对不同信号灯进行研究。图1举例说明了具     

Plasma and lipoprotein lipid peroxidation in humans on sunflower and rapessed oil diets

The effects of natural mixed diets on lipid peroxidation were investigated in humans. In the first study, 59 subjects were fed a rapeseed oil-based diet rich in monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) and a sunflower oil-based diet rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in a cross-over manner for three and a half weeks. The lipid peroxidation products in plasma were determined by measuring conjugated dienes and malondialdehyde (MDA). In a second study, plasma thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), lipid hydroperoxides, and the susceptibility of very low density lipoprotein + low-density lipoprotein (LDL) toin vitro oxidation were measured from subjects fed similar MUFA and PUFA diets for six week diets. No significant differences in plasma MDA or conjugated diene concentrations were found after the rapeseed oil diet or the sunflower oil diet in Study 1. In the second study, a small but significant decrease (P<0.05) in both lipid hydroperoxides and TBARS was observed in the LDL fraction after the sunflower oil diet. Thein vitro oxidation gave opposite results, showing increased oxidation after the sunflower oil diet. Despite a high intake of α-tocopherol during the oil peroids, no increase in plasma α-tocopherol was noticed in either study. The results suggest that moderate changes in the fatty acid composition in the Western-type diet may be adequate to affect lipoprotein susceptibility to oxidationin vitro, but there is considerable disparity with some indices ofin vivo lipid peroxidation.     

Pleasantness in relation to difference threshold of NaCl in mashed potato

Difference threshold values for sodium chloride were determined to investigate to what extent just noticeable differences (jnd) affect preferences. Samples were unflavored, garlic-flavored and pepper-flavored mashed potato. At the reference concentration of 0.60% NaCl, the jnd value for unflavored and garlic-flavored samples was 0.07% NaCl, and for the pepper-flavored sample, 0.08% NaCl. The pleasantness of seven samples between ±9 jnds from the reference (0.60% NaCl), was rated on a graphic scale ranging from less pleasant to more pleasant (reference at the midpoint). Forty-one subjects participated in the test. For unflavored and garlic-flavored mashed potato, concentrations below 0.36% NaCl and above 0.82% NaCl, and for pepper-flavored, below 0.31% NaCl and above 0.83% NaCl, were required to obtain statistically significant differences in hedonic responses compared to the reference concentration.     

Consumer attitudes towards enhanced flavonoid content in fruit

Flavonoids from fruit and vegetables are currently widely studied as components that have the potential to provide multiple health benefits. In this study consumer perceptions of flavonoids were examined. The data (N = 130) were collected in focus group discussions in Finland, The Netherlands and France. In general, the term ‘flavonoid’ was unfamiliar. After receiving information about the possible health benefits, positive attitudes towards flavonoids were expressed. Relevant issues for the acceptance of flavonoids were the natural occurrence and the health benefits associated with common diseases. However, the need to enhance flavonoid content was questioned since fruit and vegetables were perceived to be already healthy with the natural flavonoid content; additionally, consumers had perceptions of risk and uncertainty associated with breeding and processing methods. Familiar processing methods were said to be most acceptable for enhancing flavonoid content. Consumer knowledge on the health effects of flavonoids is limited, and thus there is a need to inform consumers about them. The challenge in informing consumers about the benefits of flavonoids is to maintain the natural image of fruit-based products.     

Dynamic Behavior of a PEM Fuel Cell During Electrochemical CO Oxidation on a PtRu Anode

The dynamic behaviour of a single PEM fuel cell (PEMFC) with a PtRu/C anode catalyst using CO containing H₂ as anode feed was investigated at ambient temperature. The autonomous oscillations of the cell potential were observed during the galvanostatic operation with hydrogen anode feed containing CO up to 1000 ppm. The oscillations were ascribed to the coupling of the adsorption of CO (the poisoning step) and the subsequent electrochemical oxidation of CO (the regeneration step) on the anode catalyst. The oscillations were dependent on the CO concentration of the feed gas and the applied current density. Furthermore, it was found that with CO containing feed gas, the time average power output was remarkably higher under potential oscillatory conditions in the galvanostatic mode than during potentiostatic operation. Accompanying these self-sustained potential oscillations, oscillation patterns of the anode outlet CO concentration were also detected at low current density (<100 mA/cm²). The online measurements of the anode outlet CO concentrations revealed that CO in the anode CO/H₂ feed was partially electrochemically removed during galvanostatic operation. More than 90% CO conversion was obtained at the current densities above 125 mA/cm² with low feed flow rates (100–200 mL/min).     

Intensive use of ICT in school: Developing differences in students’ ICT expertise

The purpose of the study was to examine the development of students’ high-level computer skills and competence (student expertise) in information and communication technology (ICT), and to examine the characteristics of such expertise. Eighteen lower secondary school students, selected to represent both genders and all school achievement levels, were given laptops for three years to be used both at school and at home. The data of the longitudinal study consisted of a test on ICT skills; self-evaluation questionnaires on ICT competence, thoughts about their own expertise, ICT-related activities and task, interest in ICT, and classroom observations. The results of the study indicated that the intensive use of ICT and the process-oriented learning environment supported the development of student expertise. In the analysis, three groups were identified, which oriented themselves somewhat differently in relation to ICT: student experts (n = 6), advanced users (n = 8) and non-interested users (n = 4). The experts differed from the other groups in respect of especially focusing on advancing their ICT skills; they had undertaken ICT-related tasks outside the school, they had metacognitive consciousness about their competence, and they had future plans concerning ICT in their further education and profession.     

Physical and sensory properties of low-salt phosphate-free frankfurters composed with various ingredients

The physical properties and sensory attributes of phosphate-free frankfurters were examined using response surface methodology by varying the amounts of five compositional variables: salt, modified tapioca starch-, sodium citrate (NaC)- and wheat bran and fat in the batter. Altogether, 20 different types of frankfurters were prepared. When the frankfurters were made without phosphate, additional non-meat ingredients were needed at salt contents of less than 1.5%. Modified tapioca starch and sodium citrate decreased frying loss, with the former also improving water and fat binding.     

Predicting older drivers' accident involvement--Smeed's law revisited

The present study used Swedish archival data on police-reported accidents and license statistics and Swedish questionnaire data on car use in order to test an underinvolvement hypothesis of older drivers' (65-84 years) accident involvement, postulating that the increase in older drivers' accident involvement is smaller than the increase in older drivers' presence in traffic. The results gave support to the hypothesis. Compared to the accident involvement trend in the general driver population, there was a relative decrease over time in older drivers' accident involvement per driver license and per active driver from 1983 to 1999. It is concluded that linear predictions of older drivers' accident involvement directly based on their increasing presence in traffic are likely to be overly pessimistic.