Cross-cultural differences in children's use of decision rules: A comparison between Japan and Australia.

Tested the hypothesis that children in collectivist and individualist cultures would differ in the decision rules used for the distribution of rewards between a majority and minority in the group. A decision game was developed for classroom administration in primary schools. 149 12-yr-olds in Osaka, Japan, and 162 12-yr-olds in Adelaide, Australia, were assigned randomly to a large group (majority) or to a small group (minority) in the classroom. They were told that only 1 group—large group or small group—could obtain chocolate rewards on each trial. Ss were asked to indicate how many chances (out of 6 trials) each group should have to obtain the rewards in a hypothetical game and in a real-life game. Ss then completed a social attitudes questionnaire assessing attitudes toward group loyalty and personal interests, acceptance of various decision rules for resolving competing interests in a group, and beliefs about people's willingness to be helpful and altruistic. Results show that in the real-life game, in both the majority and minority conditions, Japanese Ss were more likely to adopt an "equal-say" rule, while Australian Ss tended to use decision rules that followed self-interest and favored their own group. Findings support the hypothesis. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Number of cycles distribution in circulating systems

The characterization of certain circulating systems in terms of the number of cycles distribution (NCD) of the fluid during operation is considered. The theory of stochastic processes is used to obtain the NCD from the cycle time distribution (CTD) for the system. The case of the gamma distributed CTD is solved explicitly and the limiting distribution of the NCD as the operating time becomes large is considered. It is shown that for long operating times, the NCD converges to a normal distribution whose mean and variance depend only on the mean and the variance of the CTD.     

183 GHz double diode subharmonically pumped mixer

A double diode subharmonically pumped mixer is described. A diode-whisker contacting arrangement has been developed which avoids many of the problems associated with whisker contacts. Early tests indicate that the circuit structure is rugged and capable of good electrical performance.     

The enterotoxin from Clostridium difficile (ToxA) monoglucosylates the Rho proteins

The enterotoxin from Clostridium difficile (ToxA) is one of the causative agents of the antibiotic-associated pseudomembranous colitis. In cultured monolayer cells ToxA exhibits cytotoxic activity to induce disassembly of the actin cytoskeleton, which is accompanied by morphological changes. ToxA-induced depolymerization of actin filaments is correlated with a decrease in the ADP-ribosylation of the low molecular mass GTP-binding Rho proteins (Just, I., Selzer, J., von Eichel-Streiber, C., and Aktories, K. (1995) J. Clin. Invest. 95, 1026-1031). Here we report on the identification of the ToxA-induced modification of Rho. Applying electrospray mass spectrometry, the mass of the modification was determined as 162 Da, which is consistent with the incorporation of a hexose into Rho. From several hexoses tested UDP-glucose selectively served as cosubstrate for ToxA-catalyzed modification. The acceptor amino acid of glucosylation was identified from a Lys-C-generated peptide by tandem mass spectrometry as Thr-37. Mutation of Thr-37 to Ala completely abolished glucosylation. The members of the Rho family (RhoA, Rac1, and Cdc42Hs) were substrates for ToxA, whereas H-Ras, Rab5, and Arf1 were not glucosylated. ToxA-catalyzed glucosylation of lysates from ToxA-pretreated rat basophilic leukemia (RBL) cells resulted in a decreased incorporation of [14C]glucose, indicating previous glucosylation in the intact cell. Glucosylation of the Rho subtype proteins appears to be the molecular mechanism by which C. difficile ToxA mediates its cytotoxic effects on cells.     

PETROLEUM POTENTIAL OF SOUTHERN HISPANIOLA

The island of Hispaniola (Dominican Republic and Haiti) lies within the North Caribbean strike-slip plate boundary zone. The post-Eocene history of Hispaniola is marked by strike-slip accretion of crustal fragments onto a Late Cretaceous-Eocene island arc. Three onshore Neogene clastic basins have been the focus of petroleum exploration in Hispaniola. Oil production was achieved by drilling sugace anticlines in the Azua Basin in South-Central Hispaniola (Dominican Republic) during World War II (Maleno and Higuerito fields). More modem seismic exploration has been carried out in the Enriquillo, San Juan and Cibao Basins, but has not resulted in production. Recent surface and seismic stratigraphic mapping has elucidated the geoiogic history of Southem Hispaniola. It consists of several Late Cretaceous-Eocene oceanic and island-arc terranes separated by E-Wto NW/SE-striking “ramp” or thrust-bound clastic basins of Neogene age (San Juan, Azua and Enriquillo). Basin edges are marked by either basinward-verging thrust or reverse faults, or strike-slip faults. Basin centres are characterised by gentle folds at shallow depths and high-angle faults and associated folds at greater depths. The easternmost area of the three ramp basins (Azua and eastern Enriquillo) has been overprinted by more intense shortening caused by local NE-ward “indentation” of the Beata Ridge, an area of elevated Caribbean sea-floor south of Hispaniola. The stratigraphy of Southem Hispaniola is characterised by two depositional phases. During the first phase, deep-water pelagic sedimentary rocks of Eocene to Middle Miocene age accumulated on the leading-edge of the intra-oceanic Caribbean Plate. Following Early Miocene transpressional juxtaposition of the intra-oceanic plate with the Cretaceous-Eocene island-arc core of the island. Late Miocene-Early Pliocene clastic rocks derived from the island-arc core filled the developing Azua-San Juan ramp basin system. In the Plio-Pleistocene, shallow-marine/lagoonal sediments filled the Enriquillo Basin, while residual fluvio-deltaic sedimentation continued in the Azua Basin. Oil-prone source rocks are predicted in deep-water carbonate rocks of the Sombrerito Formation (Early Miocene) and hemi-pelagic mudstones of the Trinchera Formation (Middle to Late Miocene). Reservoirs occur in carbonates of the Sombrerito Formation and sandstones of the Trinchera and Arroyo Blanco Formations. Maturity modelling shows that hydrocarbon generation largely pre-dates Plio-Pleistocene folding and uplift. Shallow. late-formed structural traps in the Azua Basin have been charged by remigrated hydrocarbons. Unrecognised and undrilled deeper parent structures are predicted at depth in the Azua Basin, but require modem seismic data to confirm their existence. Existing seismic data identify undrilled prospects in the Enriquillo and San Juan Basins.     

Relaxed-tolerance optoelectronic device packaging

The authors present an approach to single-mode fiber coupling which results in relaxed alignment tolerances during the package assembly process. The authors use a ball lens to couple from the optical device either directly to single-mode fiber (SMF), or indirectly to SMF through a fiber lens. The ball lens is aligned and mounted in the first assembly stage. The lens is aligned and fixed either mechanically or semiactively. In the second stage of assembly, the SMF is aligned so as to compensate for any small misalignments of the ball lens. The authors have achieved coupling efficiencies of 33-40 % with this coupling scheme. It has been used for coupling to standard laser diodes and to near-traveling wave optical amplifiers. Fiber-to-fiber gains of 8.5-10 dB have been achieved with packaged devices. The approach provides some versatility with respect to the placement of passive optical components inside the package     

Differentiation of proteins in polyacrylamide gels by a modification of silver staining for the PhastSystem and a laser densitometer

Nonspecific background staining of the gel matrix is the limiting factor in the differentiation of proteins using sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. It is caused by nonspecific binding of silver ions in the gel matrix, either to nonprotein compounds or through the chemistry of the polyacrylamide gel itself. The resulting stain of the gel produces a stain baseline, making differentiation of protein bands with a laser densitometer difficult. We have therefore developed a modified silver staining method for the PhastSystem to reduce such nonspecific background staining. Apart from slowing the development program by lowering the temperature to 15 degrees C and shortening the incubation time to 4 min, the essential step in the modification is the combined use of an EDTA and Tris-acetate buffer solution which stops the reduction of silver ions. The reduced background staining leads to an improved detection of protein bands and virtually identical zero lines for the laser densitograms and the stain baselines. The total staining time is 91 min. All steps in the program are fully automated and continuous, employing the PhastSystem staining unit.