How initial fixation position influences visual word recognition: a comparison of French and Arabic

The position the eye initially fixates in a written word influences the ease with which this word is recognized. Prior research has shown that the function relating ease of word recognition and initial fixation position in the word is not symmetric. Word recognition is generally superior when the initial fixation is left rather than right of the center of the word. This asymmetry in the function relating initial fixation position to word identifiability could be due to (a) hemispheric specialization, (b) reading habits, or (c) variations in lexical constraint. The present experiments tested these alternative explanations by comparing the effects of initial fixation position in prefixed and suffixed words in French and Arabic. The results show that, contrary to both the hemispheric specialization and reading habit hypotheses, the average initial fixation curves for Arabic are asymmetric neither to the left nor to the right but depend on the morphological structure of the stimuli, thus lending support to the lexical constraint hypothesis.     

POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBON REFERENCE RANGE LEVELS IN THE U.S. POPULATION BY MEASUREMENT OF URINARY MONO-HYDROXY METABOLITES

We developed a gas chromatography/ isotope dilution high resolution mass spectrometry (GC/ID-HRMS) method for measuring 18 PAH metabolites representing 8 parent PAHs in 3 mL of urine at low part-per-trillion levels. We applied this method to the analysis of urine specimens from approximately 2400 people who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey for the years 1999 and 2000 to determine levels for 14 PAH hydroxy metabolites of 7 parent compounds. Using this GC/ID-HRMS method, we found detectable concentrations for monohydroxy metabolite isomers of fluorene, phenanthrene, fluoranthene, and pyrene, and for chrysene, benzo[c]phenanthrene, and benz[a]anthracene. Some mono-hydroxy metabolite isomers of chrysene, benzo[c]phenanthrene, and benz[a]anthracene exhibitedlow detection frequencies which did not allow for geometric mean calculations. From our study, we established a reference range for the targeted PAHs in the general U.S. population.     

Triplet state energy transfer in several proteins

Energy transfer between excited triplet states of aromatic amino acid residues was observed at 1.4 degrees K. The distance necessary for energy transfer between monomeric tyrosine and tryptophan residues was determined to be roughly 63 A. Total phosphorescence decay rate constants for several proteins were determined while emission corresponding to tyrosine and tryptophan residues was monitored. The observed decay rate constants are interpreted in terms of intramolecular interactions of the polypeptide residues.     

PCR-based gene synthesis as an efficient approach for expression of the A+T-rich malaria genome

The A+T-rich genome of the human malaria parasite Plasmodiumfalciparum encodes genes of biological importance that cannotbe expressed efficiently in heterologous eukaryotic systems,owing to an extremely biased codon usage and the presence ofnumerous cryptic polyadenylation sites. In this work we haveoptimized an assembly polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methodfor the fast and extremely accurate synthesis of a 2.1 kb Plasmodiumfalciparum gene (pfsub-1) encoding a subtilisin-like protease.A total of 104 oligonucleotides, designed with the aid of dedicatedcomputer software, were assembled in a single-step PCR. Theassembly was then further amplified by PCR to produce a syntheticgene which has been cloned and successfully expressed in bothPichia pastoris and recombinant baculovirus-infected High Five^TMcells. We believe this strategy to be of special interest asit is simple, accessible and has no limitation with respectto the size of the gene to be synthesized. Used as a systematicapproach for the malarial genome or any other A + T-rich organism,the method allows the rapid synthesis of a nucleotide sequenceoptimized for expression in the system of choice and productionof sufficiently large amounts of biological material for completemolecular and structural characterization.     

Adaptive identification of hysteresis and creep in piezoelectric stack actuators

The adaptive identification of the non-linear hysteresis and creep effects in a piezoelectric actuator is proposed in this paper. Model uncertainties related to the hysteresis and creep effects, most prominently in the high frequency zone (to 100 Hz), large operating amplitude and/long operating time, can make a piezoelectric actuator-driven micro-positioning system unstable in the closed loop. Furthermore, these uncertainties may lead to inaccurate open-loop control and frequently cause harmonic distortion when a piezoelectric actuator is driven with a sinusoidal input voltage signal. In order to solve the above issues, it is important to determine an accurate non-linear dynamic model of a piezoelectric actuator. An unscented Kalman filter-based adaptive identification algorithm is presented, which accurately determines the non-linear dynamics of a piezoelectric stack type actuator such that the non-linear hysteresis and creep effects can be accurately predicted. Since hysteresis and creep are dominant in open loop, the actuator is driven in an open-loop mode in this investigation.     

Orthographic processing in visual word recognition: A multiple read-out model.

A model of orthographic processing is described that postulates read-out from different information dimensions, determined by variable response criteria set on these dimensions. Performance in a perceptual identification task is simulated as the percentage of trials on which a noisy criterion set on the dimension of single word detector activity is reached. Two additional criteria set on the dimensions of total lexical activity and time from stimulus onset are hypothesized to be operational in the lexical decision task. These additional criteria flexibly adjust to changes in stimulus material and task demands. thus accounting for strategic influences on performance in this task. The model unifies results obtained in response-limited and data-limited paradigms and helps resolve a number of inconsistencies in the experimental literature that cannot be accommodated by other current models of visual word recognition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Post-traumatic bone cyst: a case of the floating fragment

We report a case of an intraosseous foreign body leading to the formation of a bone cyst. The cyst was identified 20 years after the initial injury and was found to contain the foreign body. No infection was found.     

Techno-economic evaluation of a PVAm CO2-selective membrane in an IGCC power plant with CO2 capture

Published data for an operating power plant, the ELCOGAS 315 MWe Puertollano plant, has been used as a basis for the simulation of an integrated gasification combined cycle process with CO₂ capture. This incorporated a fixed site carrier polyvinylamine membrane to separate the CO₂ from a CO-shifted syngas stream. It appears that the modified process, using a sour shift catalyst prior to sulphur removal, could achieve greater than 85% CO₂ recovery at 95 vol% purity. The efficiency penalty for such a process would be approximately 10% points, including CO₂ compression. A modified plant with CO₂ capture and compression was calculated to cost €2320/kW, producing electricity at a cost of 7.6 € cents/kWh and a CO₂ avoidance cost of about €40/tonne CO₂.     

Thermoelectric cooling of microelectronic circuits and waste heat electrical power generation in a desktop personal computer

Thermoelectric cooling and micro-power generation from waste heat within a standard desktop computer has been demonstrated. A thermoelectric test system has been designed and constructed, with typical test results presented for thermoelectric cooling and micro-power generation when the computer is executing a number of different applications. A thermoelectric module, operating as a heat pump, can lower the operating temperature of the computer's microprocessor and graphics processor to temperatures below ambient conditions. A small amount of electrical power, typically in the micro-watt or milli-watt range, can be generated by a thermoelectric module attached to the outside of the computer's standard heat sink assembly, when a secondary heat sink is attached to the other side of the thermoelectric module. Maximum electrical power can be generated by the thermoelectric module when a water cooled heat sink is used as the secondary heat sink, as this produces the greatest temperature difference between both sides of the module.