Implicit cognition in adolescent drug use.

Implicit cognitive responses to drug use cues and drug outcomes, assessed with measures of memory association, were studied in a sample of high-risk White and Latino adolescents. The utility of these responses as predictors of drug use was examined and compared with potentially confounding predictors, including gender, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and acculturation. The background variables also served as potential moderators of the effects of implicit cognition. The results revealed that measures of memory association were consistent, direct-effect predictors of marijuana and alcohol use. In addition, these implicit cognitive measures were stronger predictors than were the background variables, and their predictive effects were not moderated by other variables. The results provide further support for the implicit cognition perspective in drug use. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Control of Drug Release Rate by Use of Mixtures of Polycaprolactone and Cellulose Acetate Butyrate Polymers

Chlorpromazine microspheres were prepared by an emulsion solvent evaporation technique using polycaprolactone and cellulose acetate butyrate as the matrix. The fluidity of the polymer solution was easily adjusted by use of mixtures of two polymers and thus provided a practical means to control the microsphere size. The In Vitro release pattern was easily changed by changing the ratios of these two polymers. An increase in polycaprolactone content of the polymer microsphere matrix brought about an increase in the release rate. Drug loading had no predictable effect on the dissolution rate, but smaller microspheres gave more rapid drug release due to the greater surface area.     

Global observability of a class of nonlinear discrete time systems

It is shown that discrete time systems whose dynamics are governed by piecewise monotone maps of the interval are globally observable under a general class of observations. The results rest on the fact that the dynamics are ergodic.     

The Livermore Superconducting Levitron

The Livermore Superconducting Levitron contains an 80-cm-diam superconducting ring as well as three pairs of superconducting coils that produce a poloidal field, that are 50, 112, and 160 cm in diameter respectively, and that are located 40 cm above and below the midplane of the ring. Twelve control coils and optical position sensors form a feedback system for maintaining the ring's position. Magnetic damping plates above and below the ring prevent it from making accidental but dangerously violent movements. The ring was successfully tested about a year ago, and the entire system is now undergoing its first operating tests. Construction details and the initial operating results are presented here.     

Social and emotional effects of geographical relocation on elderly retirees.

Compared the adjustment of retired persons who had relocated in South Florida to that of retired persons who had resided in South Florida prior to retirement. A 93-item interview schedule was administered to 314 Ss who had retired 1.5–20 yrs previously. There was a strong tendency for relocaters to move into retirement communities and for nonrelocaters to live in traditional housing. Type of residence interacted with relocation status on the main measure of adjustment, the Srole Anomia Scale. For most Ss, retirement was not well planned, and only a minority had received retirement counseling. Life perceptions were remarkably optimistic. About 75% of the Ss felt that retirement was mostly good, over 75% rated their health as good or excellent, and over 90% were satisfied with their life situation. Only 15% were classified as anomic. Retirement planning was the most important predictor of adjustment, and a combination housing type/relocation variable was the second best predictor. Other important predictors were aspects of support networks, current health status, change in income, and education. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Aerospace applications of optimization under uncertainty

The Multidisciplinary Optimization (MDO) Branch at NASA Langley Research Center develops new methods and investigates opportunities for applying optimization to aerospace vehicle design. This paper describes MDO Branch experiences with three applications of optimization under uncertainty: (1) improved impact dynamics for airframes, (2) transonic airfoil optimization for low drag, and (3) coupled aerodynamic and structures optimization of a 3-D wing. For each case, a brief overview of the problem and references to previous publications are provided. The three cases are aerospace examples of the challenges and opportunities presented by optimization under uncertainty. The present paper will illustrate a variety of needs for this technology, summarize promising methods, and uncover fruitful areas for new research.     

An ultra‐thin oxide sub‐1 V CMOS bandgap voltage reference

This paper presents a sub‐1 V CMOS bandgap voltage reference that accounts for the presence of direct tunneling‐induced gate current. This current increases exponentially with decreasing oxide thickness and is especially prevalent in traditional (non‐high‐κ/metal gate) ultra‐thin oxide CMOS technologies (t_ox < 3 nm), where it invalidates the simplifying design assumption of infinite gate resistance. The developed reference (average temperature coefficient, T_{C_AVG}, of 22.5 ppm/°C) overcomes direct tunneling by employing circuit techniques that minimize, balance, and cancel its effects. It is compared to a thick‐oxide voltage reference (T_{C_AVG} = 14.0 ppm/°C) as a means of demonstrating that ultra‐thin oxide MOSFETs can achieve performance similar to that of more expensive thick(er) oxide MOSFETs and that they can be used to design the analog component of a mixed‐signal system. The reference was investigated in a 65 nm CMOS technology with a nominal V_DD of 1 V and a physical oxide thickness of 1.25 nm. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An exploratory study of two KA methods

Abstract: Empirical research into knowledge acquisition (KA) issues is important in the effort to improve the productivity of expert system developers. From an experimental perspective, the few studies that have been reported suffer from certain control and measurement difficulties. Here we conduct a study to demonstrate the feasibility of a new KA experimental strategy. The results of this study partially confirm and partially question results of earlier KA experiments.     

Children's event-related potentials of auditory selective attention vary with their socioeconomic status.

Past research suggests a link between socioeconomic status (SES) and brain processes in children, but direct evidence from neuroimaging is scarce. The authors investigated the relationships among SES, performance, and the neural correlates of auditory selective attention, by comparing event-related potentials (ERPs) in lower- and higher-SES preadolescent children during a task in which they attended to two types of pure tones but ignored two other types. Our hypothesis was that, at comparable performance levels, higher-SES children ignore distracters (the unattended, irrelevant tones) while lower-SES children attend equally to distracters and to targets (the attended, relevant tones). The authors found that ERP waveform differences between attended and unattended tones (Nd, difference negativity) were significant in the higher-SES but not in the lower-SES group. However, the groups did not differ in reaction times or accuracy. Electroencephalographic power analysis revealed a differential pattern of theta activity concomitant with irrelevant tones for the two groups, indicating that although they performed similarly the children from these groups recruited different neural processes. Lower-SES children, the authors suggest, deployed supplementary resources to also attend to irrelevant information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)