Rumination and overgeneral memory in depression: Effects of self-focus and analytic thinking.

Previous research has shown that, compared with a rumination induction, a brief distraction procedure reduces overgeneral autobiographical memory in depression. The authors investigated whether this effect depends on reductions in analytic thinking or reductions in self-focus. Focus of attention (high vs. low self-focus) and thinking style (high vs. low analytical thinking) were independently manipulated in depressed patients in a 2 X 2 design. Autobiographical recall was measured pre- and postmanipulation. Thinking style significantly affected overgeneral memory, whereas focus of attention significantly affected despondent mood. Reducing analytical self-focus reduced overgeneral memory, suggesting that high levels of naturally occurring ruminative analytic thinking may be important in the maintenance of overgeneral memory. Overgeneral memory in depression may be associated with chronic ruminative attempts to make sense of current or past difficulties. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Transition from subcritical to supercritical bifurcation in penetrative convection in a vertical cylinder

The stability of a vertical cylindrical column of water with the horizontal bottom boundary maintained at 0°C and the temperature of the top boundary varying between 4 and 8°C is considered. A weakly non-linear analysis shows that the bifurcation is either supercritical or subcritical depending upon the values of two parameters: the aspect ratio of the cylinder (height/radius) which is varied between 2 and 4, and the penetration parameter μ defined as the ratio of the whole height over the height of the 4°C isotherm. For a given value of the aspect ratio, the bifurcation is supercritical when the whole height is unstable (μ = 1) and becomes subcritical above a particular value of μ when penetration occurs (μ > 1).     

Studies of photon induced desorption of surface gas within an aluminium vacuum chamber using an X-ray source

The role of photon induced desorption of gases arising from hard X-rays has been investigated within a vacuum chamber of aluminium alloy (Extrudal) as proposed for the new European LEP accelerator. The radiation was derived from a commercial 100 kV X-ray unit, and was introduced into the test chamber of length around 1 m by means of an end window formed of aluminium foil 25 ωm thick. In this manner a photon flux density of up to some 10⁹ photons cm² s^?1 irradiated a total surface area of around 4 × 10³ cm². The mean energy of the radiation was continuously variable in the range 9–30 keV. Measurements of desorption efficiency appropriate to each species of desorbed gas have been carried out with chamber pressures at around 1.5 × 10^?8 and 5 × 10^?11 torr attained, respectively, with evacuation at room temperature and following bakeout at 150°C. Studies have further been extended to assess the contribution of the pretreatment of the chamber by glow discharge cleaning in argon gas. In all cases the desorbed gas species under irradiation are predominantly H₂ and CO₂ which contribute in excess of 80% of the total desorption. The relative preponderance of these species is influenced by the treatments of bakeout and glow discharge cleaning, although the total desorption efficiency at around 10^?1 mol photon^?1 is not strongly affected by these actions. The desorption efficiencies of all species and at all stages of preparation of the chamber are found to decrease with increasing mean energy of the radiation, a factor of reduction of one third being observed over the range of energies available in the test.     

EIS characterisation of anodic films formed on 2024 aluminium alloy, in sulphuric acid containing molybdate or permanganate species

Electrolytes composed of sulphuric acid and corrosion inhibitors (molybdate or permanganate species) were proposed in order to replace chromic acid for the anodising of 2024 aluminium alloy. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) method was used to visualise the correlation between the corrosion performance in NaCl and the morphology of these new anodic layers. From an appropriate equivalent circuit, EIS parameters concerning the porous and barrier layers were detected. Their evolution during corrosion tests was discussed. The results indicate that the morphology and the corrosion resistance of anodic films formed in acid sulphuric with molybdate species remain unchanged. On the contrary, morphological properties of anodic films formed in presence of permanganate species are modified, favouring their corrosion performance. EIS analyses were completed with SEM technique.     

First-principles study of static nanoscale friction between MoO3 and MoS2

The motion of a nanoscale MoO3 crystal on an MoS2 substrate is an ideal case for the study of the effects of microstructure on macroscopic phenomena like friction, because both components of this system can be prepared with atomically flat surfaces. We apply a recently developed real-space density functional theory method to investigate the energetics of sliding an MoO3 crystal on an MoS2 substrate. We then link the results to simple models based on continuum elastic theory, in order to study the mechanical behavior of the oxide crystals under loads that correspond to realistic situations. Based on these results, we extract estimates of the force which must be applied with an atomic force microscope in order to move the oxide crystal on the substrate, for different orientations of the two components.     

Crseharacterization of land surface thermal structure from NOAA-AVHRR data over a northern ecosystem

This paper focuses on the estimation and analysis of surface thermal parameters (emissivities and surface temperatures) in a nordic environment (Québec, Canada). The land cover in this region varies from boreal forest in the south to tundra in the north. The thermal parameters are estimated from two variants of a new model that combines the radiances of the short wave infrared (SWIR) spectral band [advanced very high resolution radiometer (AVHRR) channel 3: 3.55–3.93 μm] and the thermal bands (AVHRR channel 4: 10.5–11.5 μm; and AVHRR channel 5: 11.5–12.5 μm). The study, carried out for images acquired on different dates, reveals that, in most situations, the two approaches allow the separation of emissivities and surface temperatures. Analysis of the variations of the estimated emissivities in relation to surface patterns shows that they are slightly variable in spectral bands 4, and 5, with values generally greater than 0.95. Variations are more important in the SWIR channel, where values less than 0.90 appear, especially in urban areas. In general, surface emissivities increase with the density of the vegetation cover. Moreover, for densely vegetated areas, SWIR surface reflectivities, which can be derived from emissivities, appear to be well correlated with the reflectivities of the AVHRR visible channel. As with emissivities, variations of the estimated land surface temperatures (LST) in relation to vegetation density, characterized by the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), were considered. The relations between the two parameters (LST and NDVI) show essentially two opposite directions of linear variations (positive and negative correlations). In the light of the main results obtained, the synergistic use of the different spectral regions (visible, near, mid-, and thermal infrareds) could be very useful in the parameterization of boreal ecosystems.     

Special Issue on Discrete Geometry for Computer Imagery

We consider a bilevel optimisation approach for parameter learning in higher-order total variation image reconstruction models. Apart from the least squares cost functional, naturally used in bilevel learning, we propose and analyse an alternative cost based on a Huber-regularised TV seminorm. Differentiability properties of the solution operator are verified and a first-order optimality system is derived. Based on the adjoint information, a combined quasi-Newton/semismooth Newton algorithm is proposed for the numerical solution of the bilevel problems. Numerical experiments are carried out to show the suitability of our approach and the improved performance of the new cost functional. Thanks to the bilevel optimisation framework, also a detailed comparison between \(\text {TGV}^2\) and \(\text {ICTV}\) is carried out, showing the advantages and shortcomings of both regularisers, depending on the structure of the processed images and their noise level.     

Hydroxamic Acid Content and Toxicity of Rye at Selected Growth Stages

Rye (Secale cereale L.) is an important cover crop that provides many benefits to cropping systems including weed and pest suppression resulting from allelopathic substances. Hydroxamic acids have been identified as allelopathic compounds in rye. This research was conducted to improve the methodology for quantifying hydroxamic acids and to determine the relationship between hydroxamic acid content and phytotoxicity of extracts of rye root and shoot tissue harvested at selected growth stages. Detection limits for an LC/MS-MS method for analysis of hydroxamic acids from crude aqueous extracts were better than have been reported previously. (2R)-2-β-d-Glucopyranosyloxy-4-hydroxy-(2H)-1,4-benzoxazin-3(4H)-one (DIBOA-G), 2,4-dihydroxy-(2H)-1,4-benzoxazin-3(4H)-one (DIBOA), benzoxazolin-2(3H)-one (BOA), and the methoxy-substituted form of these compounds, (2R)-2-β-d-glucopyranosyloxy-4-hydroxy-7-methoxy-(2H)-1,4-benzoxazin-3(4H)-one (DIMBOA glucose), 2,4-hydroxy-7-methoxy-(2H)-1,4-benzoxazin-3(4H)-one (DIMBOA), and 6-methoxy-benzoxazolin-2(3H)-one (MBOA), were all detected in rye tissue. DIBOA and BOA were prevalent in shoot tissue, whereas the methoxy-substituted compounds, DIMBOA glucose and MBOA, were prevalent in root tissue. Total hydroxamic acid concentration in rye tissue generally declined with age. Aqueous crude extracts of rye shoot tissue were more toxic than extracts of root tissue to lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) and tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) root length. Extracts of rye seedlings (Feekes growth stage 2) were most phytotoxic, but there was no pattern to the phytotoxicity of extracts of rye sampled at growth stages 4 to 10.5.4, and no correlation of hydroxamic acid content and phytotoxicity (I₅₀ values). Analysis of dose–response model slope coefficients indicated a lack of parallelism among models for rye extracts from different growth stages, suggesting that phytotoxicity may be attributed to compounds with different modes of action at different stages. Hydroxamic acids may account for the phytoxicity of extracts derived from rye at early growth stages, but other compounds are probably responsible in later growth stages.