Interlaboratory ring test of time-resolved fluoroimmunoassays for zeranol and alpha-zearalenol and comparison with zeranol test kits.

Many zeranol immunoassay test kits cross-react with toxins formed by naturally occurring Fusarium spp. fungi, leading to false-positive screening results. This paper describes the evaluation and application of recently published, dry reagent time-resolved fluoroimmunoassays (TR-FIA) for zeranol and the toxin alpha-zearalenol. A ring test of bovine urine fortified with zeranol and/or alpha-zearalenol in four European Union National Reference Laboratories demonstrated that the TR-FIA tests were accurate and robust. The alpha-zearalenol TR-FIA satisfactorily quantified alpha-zearalenol in urine fortified at 10-30 ng ml(-1). The specificity-enhanced zeranol TR-FIA accurately quantified zeranol in the range 2-5 ng ml(-1) and gave no false-positive results in blank urine, even in the presence of 30 ng ml(-1) alpha-zearalenol. Zeranol TR-FIA specificity was demonstrated further by analysing incurred zeranol-free urine samples containing natural Fusarium spp. toxins. The TR-FIA yielded no false-positive results in the presence of up to 22 ng ml(-1) toxins. The performance of four commercially available zeranol immunoassay test kits was more variable. Three kits produced many false-positive results. One kit produced only one potential false-positive using a protocol that was longer than that of the TR-FIA. These TR-FIAs will be valuable tools to develop inspection criteria to distinguish illegal zeranol abuse from contamination arising from in vivo metabolism of Fusarium spp. toxins.     

Working memory in mild Alzheimer's disease and early Parkinson's disease.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD) impair working memory (WM). It is unclear, however, whether the deficits seen early in the course of these diseases are similar. To address this issue, the authors compared the performance of 22 patients with mild AD, 20 patients with early PD and without dementia, and 112 control participants on tests of inhibition, short-term memory, and 2 commonly administered tests of WM. The results suggest that although mild AD and early PD both impair WM, the deficits may be related to the interruption of different processes that contribute to WM performance. Early PD disrupted inhibitory processes, whereas mild AD did not. The WM deficits seen in patients with AD may be secondary to deficits in other cognitive capacities, including semantic memory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reconstruction of radiation situation at Chernobyl NPP service area on the basis of γ-ray spectrometric analysis of soil samples and published data

Reconstruction of the radiation situation in areas subjected to nuclear accidents was done with an example of the Chernobyl accident (1986) on the basis of the radionuclidic composition of soil samples. The radionuclidic composition of γ-emitters was determined 19 years after the accident in a pulverescent sandstone sample collected in July 1986 at a distance of 1.5 km from the 4th block. Using reference data and data from original papers, reconstruction of the radionuclidic composition of the sample is done on the first ten days after the accident, and possible variations of the γ-radiation dose rate were determined within the framework of the thin film model. Based on the results obtained, variations of the absorbed dose of γ-radiation in 10 days are estimated, which is necessary for making urgent decisions in the initial period after the accident. The results are well consistent with the published data on the dose rates, validating the decision on evacuation of the people from Pripyat town and from the 30-km exclusion zone.     

Neural components of social evaluation.

Evaluative responses appear to involve 2 seemingly distinct sets of processes: those that are automatically activated and others that are more consciously controlled. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, the authors investigated the brain systems associated with automatic and controlled evaluative processing. Participants made either evaluative (good-bad) or nonevaluative (past-present) judgments about famous names. Greater amygdala activity was observed for names rated as "bad" relative to those rated as "good," regardless of whether the task directly involved an evaluative judgment (good-bad) or not (past-present). Good-bad judgments resulted in greater medial and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) activity than past-present judgments. Furthermore, there was greater ventrolateral PFC activity in good-bad judgments marked by greater ambivalence. Together, these findings indicate a neural distinction between processes engaged for automatic and controlled evaluation. Whereas automatic processes are sensitive to simple valence, controlled processes are sensitive to attitudinal complexity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

静压下ZnS：Te中Te等电子陷阱的发光

研究了4块ZnS：Te薄膜样品(Te组分从0．5％到3．1％)的光致发光谱在常压下的温度特性．对于Te组分较小的2块样品观察到2个发光峰，分别来自Te1和Te2等电子陷阱；而对Te组分较大的2块样品则只观察到1个来自Te2等电子陷阱的发光．我们还研究了这些发光峰在低温1．5K下的流体静压压力行为．观察到与Te1有关的发光峰压力系数比ZnS带边的要大很多，而与Te2有关的发光峰压力系数则比带边小．根据Koster-Slater模型，价带态密度半宽随压力的增加是Te1中心有较大压力系数的主要原因，而Te1和Te2中心的不同压力行为则是由于压力对两者缺陷势增强的不同效果引起的．     

Allocation of Scarce Water Resources Using Deficit Irrigation in Rotational Systems

On irrigation schemes with rotational irrigation systems in semiarid tropics, the existing rules for water allocation are based on applying a fixed depth of water with every irrigation irrespective of the crops, their growth stages, and soils on which these crops are grown. However, when water resources are scarce, it is necessary to allocate water optimally to different crops grown in the irrigation scheme taking account of different soils in the command area. Allocating water optimally may lead to applying less water to crops than is needed to obtain the maximum yield. In this paper, a three stage approach is proposed for allocating water from a reservoir optimally based on a deficit irrigation approach, using a simulation-optimization model. The allocation results with a deficit irrigation approach are compared for a single crop (wheat) in an irrigation scheme in India, first with full irrigation (irrigation to fill the root zone to field capacity) and second with the existing rule. The full irrigation with a small irrigation interval was equivalent to adequate irrigation (no stress to the crop). It is found that practicing deficit irrigation enables the irrigated area and the total crop production in the irrigation scheme used for the case study to be increased by about 30–45% and 20–40%, respectively, over the existing rule and by 50 and 45%, respectively, over the adequate irrigation. Allocation of resources also varied with soil types.     

Are eating disorders culture-bound syndromes? Implications for conceptualizing their etiology.

The authors explore the extent to which eating disorders, specifically anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN), represent culture-bound syndromes and discuss implications for conceptualizing the role genes play in their etiology. The examination is divided into 3 sections: a quantitative meta-analysis of changes in incidence rates since the formal recognition of AN and BN, a qualitative summary of historical evidence of eating disorders before their formal recognition, and an evaluation of the presence of these disorders in non-Western cultures. Findings suggest that BN is a culture-bound syndrome and AN is not. Thus, heritability estimates for BN may show greater variability cross-culturally than heritability estimates for AN, and the genetic bases of these disorders may be associated with differential pathoplasticity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)