Context-Processing Deficits in Schizotypal Personality Disorder.

Research suggests that schizotypal personality disorder (SPD) is a part of the spectrum of schizophrenia-related illnesses. This article hypothesizes that a deficit in the representation and maintenance of context is a core cognitive disturbance in schizophrenia and that SPD individuals should demonstrate context-processing deficits. To test this hypothesis, the authors administered 3 versions of their AX-CPT task, designed to assess context processing, to 35 healthy controls and 26 individuals with DSM-IV SPD. They also administered working memory and selective attention tasks. SPD individuals displayed context representation deficits similar to those found in schizophrenia but did not show the same additional deficits in context maintenance. Context processing was strongly associated with working memory and selective attention performance in the SPD individuals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Radiative lifetimes of electrons and holes in a thin semiconductor layer

Radiative lifetimes of nondegenerate electrons and holes distributed uniformly in a semiconductor layer either deposited on a substrate or bounded by two dielectric media are calculated. The obtained expression takes into account the radiation reabsorbtion and interference effects and determines the dependences of the radiative lifetimes on the refractive indices of the external media and on the layer thickness.     

Hopping and optical absorption of electrons in nano-porous crystal 12CaO·7Al2O3

Recently it has been discovered that a nano-porous main group oxide 12CaO·7Al₂O₃ (C12A7) can be converted from a wide-gap insulator to a good transparent conductor. Using ab initio modelling we explain good conductivity of this material by very small barriers for hopping of localised electrons between neighbouring positive cages. We show that optical absorption of C12A7 in infrared region and at energies higher than 2.7 eV is due to inter-cage and intra-cage electron transitions, respectively. The proposed mechanisms can be useful in further search for conducting transparent media.     

Microchemical Engineering: Components,Plant Concepts User Acceptance – Part I

Over the last five years, many activities have focused on the unexploited field of carrying out reactions on small scales. Due to the rapid development of new components, this paper deals with recent developments only in a compressed form. An important point is the analysis of possible plant concepts for microreactors and whether these are a sensible option. Due to the enormous difference in size between the microchannels and the fluid periphera of possible components this is not just a technical question. It touches on the microtechnology concept as a whole. The direction in which the field should be developed and which measures can be taken to influence its development are questions that are addressed here with respect to the big industrial interest in microreactors.     

The effect of segment length on some properties of thermoplastic poly(ester–siloxane)s

A series of novel thermoplastic elastomers, based on poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) as the soft segment and poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT) as the hard segment, were synthesized by catalyzed two‐step, melt transesterification reactions of dimethyl terephthalate and methyl esters of carboxypropyl‐terminated poly(dimethylsiloxane)s (M?_n = 550–2170 g mol^?1) with 1,4‐butanediol. The lengths of both the hard and soft segments were varied while the weight ratio of the hard to soft segments in the reaction mixture was maintained constant (57/43). The molecular structure, composition and molecular weights of the poly(ester–siloxane)s were examined by ¹H NMR spectroscopy. The effectiveness of the incorporation of the methyl‐ester‐terminated poly(dimethylsiloxane)s into the copolymer chains was verified by chloroform extraction. The effect of the segment length on the transition temperatures (T_m and T_g) and the thermal and thermo‐oxidative degradation stability, as well as the degree of crystallinity and hardness properties of the synthesized TPESs, were studied. Copyright © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry     

Allocentric Versus Egocentric Spatial Memory After Unilateral Temporal Lobectomy in Humans.

Thirty patients who had undergone either a right or left unilateral temporal lobectomy (14 RTL; 16 LTL) and 16 control participants were tested on a computerized human analogue of the Morris Water Maze. The procedure was designed to compare allocentric and egocentric spatial memory. In the allocentric condition, participants searched for a target location on the screen, guided by object cues. Between trials, participants had to walk around the screen, which disrupted egocentric memory representation. In the egocentric condition, participants remained in the same position, but the object cues were shifted between searches to prevent them from using allocentric memory. Only the RTL group was impaired on the allocentric condition, and neither the LTL nor RTL group was impaired on additional tests of spatial working memory or spatial manipulation. The results support the notion that the right anterior temporal lobe stores long-term allocentric spatial memories. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mathematical Modeling of Thermomechanical Processes under Intense Thermal Effect

Mathematical models of thermomechanical processes which are based on the laws of rational thermodynamics of irreversible processes are treated. Singular features of the unsteady-state behavior of a continuous medium are demonstrated within different models, such as a medium with internal parameters of state, a medium with memory, and a medium of the velocity type.     

Design principles underlying circadian clocks.

A fundamental problem for regulatory networks is to understand the relation between form and function: to uncover the underlying design principles of the network. Circadian clocks present a particularly interesting instance, as recent work has shown that they have complex structures involving multiple interconnected feedback loops with both positive and negative feedback. While several authors have speculated on the reasons for this, a convincing explanation is still lacking.We analyse both the flexibility of clock networks and the relationships between various desirable properties such as robust entrainment, temperature compensation, and stability to environmental variations and parameter fluctuations. We use this to argue that the complexity provides the flexibility necessary to simultaneously attain multiple key properties of circadian clocks. As part of our analysis we show how to quantify the key evolutionary aims using infinitesimal response curves, a tool that we believe will be of general utility in the analysis of regulatory networks. Our results suggest that regulatory and signalling networks might be much less flexible and of lower dimension than their apparent complexity would suggest.     

Evanescently coupled photodiodes integrating a double-stage taper for 40-Gb/s applications-compared performance with side-illuminated photodiodes

The design, fabrication, and performance of double-stage taper photodiodes (DSTPs) are reported. The objective of this work is to develop devices compatible with 40-Gb/s applications. Such devices require high efficiency, ultrawide band, high optical power handling capability, and compatibility with low-cost module fabrication. The integration of mode size converters improves both the coupling efficiency and the responsivity with a large fiber mode diameter. Responsivity of 0.6 A/W and 0.45 A/W are achieved with a 6-/spl mu/m fiber mode diameter and cleaved fiber, respectively, providing relaxed alignment tolerances (/spl plusmn/1.6 /spl mu/m and /spl plusmn/2 /spl mu/m, respectively), compatible with cost-effective packaging techniques. DSTPs also offer a wide bandwidth greater than 40 GHz and transverse-electric/transverse-magnetic polarization dependence lower than 0.2 dB. Furthermore, a DSTP saturation current as high as 11 mA results in optical power handling greater than +10 dBm and a high output voltage of 0.8 V. These capabilities allow the photodiode to drive the decision circuit without the need of a broad-band electrical amplifier. The DSTP devices presented here demonstrate higher responsivities with large fiber mode diameter and better optical power handling capabilities and are compared with classical side-illuminated photodiodes.