The speed and accuracy of reading horizontal, vertical, and circular scales.

"The speed and accuracy of reading comparable horizontal, vertical, and circular scales has been studied by means of a film… . The vertical scale is clearly less easy to read than either of the other two displays, particular difficulty being experienced near its ends. The success of the circular scale may be attributed to the fact that it presents a smaller area to be scanned. The shape of the visual field and the relative ease of moving the eyes from side to side, rather than up and down, are thought to account for the greater accuracy on the horizontal scale." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Does imaginal exposure exacerbate PTSD symptoms?

Symptom exacerbation (i.e., treatment side effects) has often been neglected in the psychotherapy literature. Although prolonged exposure has gained empirical support for the treatment of chronic posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), some have expressed concern that imaginal exposure, a component of this therapy, may cause symptom exacerbation, leading to inferior outcome or dropout. In the present study, symptom exacerbation was examined in 76 women with chronic PTSD. To define a "reliable" exacerbation, we used a method of incorporating the standard deviation and test-retest reliability of each outcome measure. Only a minority of participants exhibited reliable symptoms exacerbation. Individuals who reported symptom exacerbation benefited comparably from treatment. Further, symptom exacerbation was unrelated to dropout. Thus, although a minority of individuals experienced a temporary symptom exacerbation, this exacerbation was unrelated to outcome. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of client feedback on couple psychotherapy outcomes.

Using outcome data to monitor the progress of treatment and the therapeutic alliance, also known as “client feedback” or “patient-focused research,” has yielded impressive results in individual psychotherapy. Client feedback has demonstrated reductions in premature terminations and improved psychotherapy outcomes. However, little research has been conducted using this paradigm with couples receiving therapy. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the effectiveness of client feedback would extend to couple therapy. Results from a randomized couple clinical trial conducted in a naturalistic setting indicated that couples in a client feedback condition demonstrated statistically significantly more improvement compared with couples receiving treatment as usual and that improvement occurred more rapidly. Also, 4 times as many couples in the feedback condition reported clinically significant change by the end of treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Altered regional blood volume in chronic cannabis smokers.

The quantitative measurement of cerebral perfusion is crucial for the study of both normal and impaired human brain function. Although cannabis is the most commonly abused illicit substance in the United States, its effects on cerebral blood volume (CBV) have not been fully examined. The objective of the present study was to examine differences in relative regional blood volume in focal regions of interest--including the frontal lobe, the temporal lobe, and the cerebellum--during a period of supervised abstinence from cannabis. Dynamic susceptibility contrast MRI data were collected on 12 current, long-term daily cannabis users between 6 and 36 hr after the subjects' last reported cannabis use. Resting-state CBV images were also acquired in 17 healthy comparison subjects. Data were acquired in the axial plane with a 1.5-Tesla GE Signa scanner following a bolus of gadolinium contrast agent. Cannabis users demonstrated significantly increased blood volumes in the right frontal area ( p     

Novel fatty acids from the royal jelly of honeybees (Apis mellifera,L.)

Three new compounds isolated from the royal jelly of honeybees (Apis mellifera, L.) have been identified as 8-hydroxyoctanoic acid, 3-hydroxydecanoic acid and a dextrorotatory isomer of 3,10-dihydroxydecanoic acid.     

Evaluation of bis(2‐pyridinal)ethylenediimine as ligand for atom transfer radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate: influence of polar solvents

Bis(2‐pyridinal)ethylenediimine was used as a ligand for copper‐mediated atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of methyl methacrylate. Reactions were performed at molar ratios of monomer:initiator:catalyst of 100:1:0.5 and catalyst:ligand ratios of 1:1 and 1:2. Polymerization reactions were performed in bulk as well as in the presence of polar solvents such as dimethylformamide and acetonitrile. Reactions carried out in bulk resulted in polymerizations with poor control due to the low solubility of the copper complex in the monomer. The control was however improved by carrying out the reactions in solution using either dimethylformamide or acetonitrile as solvent. Copyright © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry     

Designed Patterning of Mesoporous Metal Films Based on Electrochemical Micelle Assembly Combined with Lithographical Techniques

Mesoporous noble metals and their patterning techniques for obtaining unique patterned structures are highly attractive for electrocatalysis, photocatalysis, and optoelectronics device applications owing to their expedient properties such as high level of exposed active locations, cascade electrocatalytic sites, and large surface area. However, patterning techniques for mesoporous substrates are still limited to metal oxide and silica films, although there is growing demand for developing techniques related to patterning mesoporous metals. In this study, the first demonstration of mesoporous metal films on patterned gold (Au) substrates, prefabricated using photolithographic techniques, is reported. First, different growth rates of mesoporous Au metal films on patterned Au substrates are demonstrated by varying deposition times and voltages. In addition, mesoporous Au films are also fabricated on various patterns of Au substrates including stripe and mesh lines. An alternative fabrication method using a photoresist insulating mask also yields growth of mesoporous Au within the patterning. Moreover, patterned mesoporous films of palladium (Pd) and palladium–copper alloy (PdCu) are demonstrated on the same types of substrates to show versatility of this method. Patterned mesoporous Au films (PMGFs) show higher electrochemically active surface area (ECSA) and higher sensitivity toward glucose oxidation than nonpatterned mesoporous Au films (NMGF).     

Preparation of Sb:SnO2 thin films and its effect on opto-electrical properties

The present study focuses on pure and antimony (Sb)-doped tin oxide thin film and its influence on their structural, optical, and electrical properties. Both undoped and Sb-doped SnO₂ thin films have been grown by using simple, inexpensive pyrolysis spray technique. The deposition temperature was optimized to 450 °C. X-ray diffractions pattern have revealed that the films are polycrystalline and have tetragonal rutile-type crystal structure. Undoped SnO₂ films grow along (110) preferred orientation, while the Sb-doped SnO₂ films grow along (200) direction. The size of Sb-doped tin oxide crystals changes from 26.3 to 58.0 nm when dopant concentration is changed from 5 to 25 wt%. The transmission spectra revealed that all the samples are transparent in the visible region, and the optical bandgap varies between 3.92 and 3.98 eV. SEM analysis shows that the surface morphology and grain size are affected by the doping rate. All the films exhibit a high transmittance in the visible region and show a sharp fundamental absorption edge at about 0.38–0.40 nm. The maximum electrical conductivity of 362.5 S/cm was obtained for the film doped with 5 wt% Sb. However, the carrier concentration is increased from 0.708?×?10¹⁸ to 4.058?×?10²⁰ cm³. The electrical study reveals that the films have n-type electrical conductivity and depend on Sb concentration. We observed a decrease in sheet resistance and resistivity with the increase in Sb dopant concentration. For the dopant concentration of 5 wt% of Sb in SnO₂, the Rs and ρ were found minimum with the values of 88.55 (Ω cm^?2) and 2.75 (Ω cm), respectively. We observed an increase in carrier concentration and a decrease in mobility with the addition of Sb up to 25 wt%. The highest figure of merit values 2.5?×?10^–3 Ω^?1 is obtained for the 5wt% Sb, which may be considered potential materials for solar cells' transparent windows.

     

The cultured rodent follicle as a model for investigations of gonadotrophin surge-attenuating factor (GnSAF) production

Gonadotrophin surge-attenuating factor (GnSAF) bioactivity (the suppression of GnRH-induced but not basal LH and FSH secretion from pituitary gonadotrophs) is produced by granulosa cells in vitro. Previous studies to investigate this bioactivity used dispersed granulosa cells which lack some cell types and the structural components of the follicle in vivo. The aim of this study, therefore, was to investigate whether intact rodent follicle culture was a suitable model for the study of the production of GnSAF bioactivity, allowing GnSAF to be investigated in a more physiologically realistic environment while still retaining culture conditions from which, as with granulosa cell cultures, extraneous factors can be excluded. Follicles from 16-day-old rats and 21-day-old mice were cultured for 3-6 days in the presence or absence of FSH and/or LH. The follicle-conditioned medium, and matching samples of unconditioned culture medium were added to our established rat pituitary monolayer GnSAF bioassay. Both mouse and rat intact follicles produced GnSAF bioactivity, reducing GnRH-induced LH secretion significantly. GnSAF output from the mouse follicles was highest during days 1-3 of culture, when follicles were at an early antral stage of development, and fell on days 4-6 as the follicles grew to the mid antral stage. While the stimulatory effects of FSH on rat follicle GnSAF secretion was dose-dependent, LH alone did not increase GnSAF production. An antibody against human GnSAF blocked GnSAF bioactivity produced by rat follicles, and recognised proteins within the expected pI and molecular weight range for GnSAF in two-dimensional gels of rat follicle-conditioned medium, showing a good homology between rodent and human GnSAF proteins. In conclusion, the release of GnSAF bioactivity is principally from small follicles stimulated by FSH. Therefore, intact rodent follicle culture systems offer an excellent model for the investigation of factors controlling GnSAF production under relatively physiological conditions.     

Energy-Efficient and Blockchain-Enabled Model for Internet of Things (IoT) in Smart Cities

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) and Internet of Things (IoT) have gained more popularity in recent years as an underlying infrastructure for connected devices and sensors in smart cities. The data generated from these sensors are used by smart cities to strengthen their infrastructure, utilities, and public services. WSNs are suitable for long periods of data acquisition in smart cities. To make the networks of smart cities more reliable for sensitive information, the blockchain mechanism has been proposed. The key issues and challenges of WSNs in smart cities is efficiently scheduling the resources; leading to extending the network lifetime of sensors. In this paper, a linear network coding (LNC) for WSNs with blockchain-enabled IoT devices has been proposed. The consumption of energy is reduced for each node by applying LNC. The efficiency and the reliability of the proposed model are evaluated and compared to those of the existing models. Results from the simulation demonstrate that the proposed model increases the efficiency in terms of the number of live nodes, packet delivery ratio, throughput, and the optimized residual energy compared to other current techniques.