The cultural construction of self-enhancement: An examination of group-serving biases.

Self-serving biases, found routinely in Western samples, have not been observed in Asian samples. Yet given the orientation toward individualism and collectivism in these 2 cultures, respectively, it is imperative to examine whether parallel differences emerge when the target of evaluation is the group. It may be that Asians show a group-serving bias parallel to the Western self-serving bias. In 2 studies, group-serving biases were compared across European Canadian, Asian Canadian, and Japanese students. Study 1 revealed that Japanese students evaluated a family member less positively than did both groups of Canadian students. Study 2 replicated this pattern with students' evaluations of their universities. The data suggest that cultural differences in enhancement biases are robust, generalizing to individuals' evaluations of their groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Vibrational control of linear time lag systems with arbitrarilylarge but bounded delays

It is shown that vibrational stabilization can be effective for linear systems with large bounded delays. Theorems are given that define the procedures for the search of the stabilizing vibrations. Robust oscillatory stabilization insensitive to the delay size is also shown to take place for some classes of systems     

Hindshaker, a novel myelin mutant showing hypomyelination preferentially affecting the spinal cord

Animals with spontaneous mutations affecting myelin formation have provided useful information about the genetic and cellular mechanisms regulating normal and abnormal myelination. In this paper we describe a novel murine mutation termed hindshaker (hsh), which is inherited in an autosomal recessive manner. Affected mice are characterised by a variable tremor of the hind end which commences at about 2 weeks of age and largely disappears in animals older than 6 weeks. There is hypomyelination affecting predominantly the spinal cord, although the optic nerves and brain are involved to a much lesser degree. The defect of thinly myelinated and naked axons is maximal at 20 days of age and largely resolves with time so that in the adult most axons are myelinated. The myelin structure appears normal and immunostains for the major proteins. Although the distribution of oligodendrocytes in the spinal cord is similar to normal during the period of hypomyelination, there are fewer mature cells. The hsh mutation appears to delay the maturation of oligodendrocytes, particularly in the spinal cord. Additionally, there is a considerable variation in phenotypic expression and in penetrance when the mutation is expressed on different genetic backgrounds, suggesting the hsh locus is subject to the influence of modifying gene(s). Identification of the hsh gene should identify a factor important in the development of oligodendrocytes, particularly those in the spinal cord.     

Exit of the pre-TCR from the ER/cis-Golgi is necessary for signaling differentiation, proliferation, and allelic exclusion in immature thymocytes

A major issue is whether surface expression of the pre-TCR is necessary for signaling the development of immature thymocytes. To address this question, we generated transgenic mice expressing a TCRbeta chain that had a strong endoplasmic reticulum (ER) retrieval signal (TCRbetaER) and that was expressed intracellularly but failed to reach the cell surface. In TCRbetaER transgenic mice, there was a failure of allelic exclusion. Also, the transgene failed to rescue the developmental defects observed in TCRbeta-null mice. In contrast, TCRbeta transgenes with a mutant ER retrieval sequence or lacking this sequence signaled efficient allelic exclusion and suppressed the TCRbeta-/- defect. These data show that exit of the pre-TCR from the ER/cis-Golgi is required for progression through the double-negative thymocyte checkpoint.     

200°C, 96-nm wavelength range, continuous-wave lasing fromunbonded GaAs MOVPE-grown vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers

We report record temperature and wavelength range attained using MOVPE-grown AlGaAs vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSEL's). Unbonded continuous-wave lasing is achieved at temperatures up to 200°C from these top-emitting VCSEL's and operation over a 96-nm wavelength regime near 850 nm is also achieved from the same nominal design. Temperature and wavelength insensitive operation is also demonstrated; threshold current is controlled to within a factor of 2 (2.5-5 mA) for a wavelength range exceeding 50 nm and to within ±30% (5-10 mA) for a temperature range of 190°C at 870 nm     

Lead-Ion Stability in Soda–Lime Lead Silicate Glasses

Sodium-calcium-lead silicate glass compositions were prepared over a wide compositional range by conventional glass-melting methods. The acid chemical stability of the glass structure was studied by corroding samples of glass in 4% acetic acid solution at 22°C for periods up to 24 h. Lead corrosion stability was evaluated by measuring lead concentrations in the corrosion solution. At short times, parabolic time dependence was observed and the parabolic time coefficients were regressed against composition, yielding a simple additive relationship. A similar model was fitted to 24-h release data, which showed compositional effects similar to the 2-h data. Of the oxides studied, sodium was the most detrimental to durability, and the coefficients of the oxides decreased in the series: Na₂O, PbO, CaO, SiO₂. The effects of the oxides could be partially explained by the number of nonbridging oxygens expected in the glass structure, and the residual effect was attributed to cation characteristics. Small phosphate additions to the glass greatly increased the lead-ion stability under nearly all experimental conditions examined.     

Strains of Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 with altered PsaC. II. EPR and optical spectroscopic properties of FA and FB in aspartate, serine, and alanine replacements of cysteines 14 and 51

A psaC deletion mutant of the unicellular cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 was utilized to incorporate site-specific amino acid substitutions in the cysteine residues that ligate the FA and FB iron-sulfur clusters in Photosystem I (PS I). Cysteines 14 and 51 of PsaC were changed to aspartic acid (C14DPsaC, C51DPsaC, C14D/C51DPsaC), serine (C14SPsaC, C51SPsaC), and alanine (C14APsaC, C51APsaC), and the properties of FA and FB were characterized by electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy and time-resolved optical spectroscopy. The C14DPsaC-PS I and C14SPsaC-PS I complexes showed high levels of photoreduction of FA with g values of 2.045, 1. 944, and 1.852 after illumination at 15 K, but there was no evidence of reduced FB in the g = 2 region. The C51DPsaC-PS I and C51SPsaC-PS I complexes showed low levels of photoreduction of FB with g values of 2.067, 1.931, and 1.881 after illumination at 15 K, but there was no evidence of reduced FA in the g = 2 region. The presence of FB was inferred in C14DPsaC-PS I and C14SPsaC-PS I, and the presence of FA was inferred in C51DPsaC-PS I and C51SPsaC-PS I by magnetic interaction in the photoaccumulated spectra and by the equal spin concentration of the irreversible P700(+) cation generated by illumination at 77 K. Flash-induced optical absorbance changes at 298 K in the presence of a fast electron donor indicate that two electron acceptors function after FX in the four mutant PS I complexes at room temperature. These data suggest that a mixed-ligand [4Fe-4S] cluster is present in the mutant sites of C14X-PS I and C51X-PS I (where X = D or S), but that the proposed spin state of S = 3/2 renders the resonances undetectable in the g = 2 region. The C14APsaC-PS I, C51APsaC-PS I and C14D/C51DPsaC-PS I complexes show only the photoreduction of FX, consistent with the absence of PsaC. These results show that only those PsaC proteins that contain two [4Fe-4S] clusters are capable of assembling onto PS I cores in vivo.     

In vivo surface analysis of titanium and stainless steel miniplates and screws

OBJECTIVE: To determine the results peranal excision for rectal carcinoma. DESIGN: Retrospective case series. SETTING: A university-affiliated hospital. PATIENTS: Of 178 patients who presented for curative resection of rectal carcinoma between 1975 and 1993, 19 (10.7%) were deemed suitable for local excision. There were 10 men and 9 women with a mean age of 71.2 years. The follow-up ranged from 13 to 184 months. INTERVENTION: Peranal excision. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Histologic differentiation, gross morphology, depth of invasion and size of the carcinoma, adequacy of margins of excision, complications of operation, rates of recurrence, results of salvage therapy and 5-year survival. RESULTS: There were no intraoperative complications. Postoperative complications included urinary retention (one patient) and bleeding (one patient). There were five local recurrences (26%). Salvage operations were performed in three (60%) patients and were successful in two of them. The 5-year cancer-specific survival rate was 82%. The recurrence rate was higher in patients with inadequate margins of excision and ulcerative lesions. Neither size nor grade of the carcinoma correlated with recurrence. CONCLUSIONS: Local excision of rectal carcinoma can be performed successfully in selected patients. Diligent follow-up is required, because up to 60% of local recurrences can be treated successfully.