The dawn of the MIM magicians

A bright future beckons for those who can master metal injection moulding techniques. They add up to nothing less than a revolution in metals manufacturing, says Marten Austen…     

"Where did I go wrong?" A psychophysiological analysis of error detection.

There is a component of the event-related brain potential, the error-related negativity (or ERN), that is related to error detection in choice reaction time (RT) tasks. The J. Miller (1982) paradigm was used to determine whether the detection process manifested by the ERN involves a comparison between representations of the actual response and the correct response or between representations of the stimulus anticipated by the S and the stimulus that actually occurs. The data favored the former rather than the latter kind of comparison, with the magnitude of the error signal depending on the similarity or dissimilarity between the two response representations. In turn, response similarity depended on the strategy used by the Ss to select responses: Response parameters selected first defined which responses would be most similar. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparison of four different mobile devices for measuring heart rate and ECG with respect to aspects of usability and acceptance by older people

In the area of product design and usability, most products are developed for the mass-market by technically oriented designers and developers for use by persons who themselves are also technically adept by today's standards. The demands of older people are commonly not given sufficient consideration within the early developmental process. In the present study, the usability and acceptability of four different devices meant to be worn for the measurement of heart rate or ECG were analyzed on the basis of qualitative subjective user ratings and structured interviews of twelve older participants. The data suggest that there was a relatively high acceptance concerning these belts by older adults but none of the four harnesses was completely usable. Especially problematic to the point of limiting satisfaction among older subjects were problems encountered while adjusting the length of the belt and/or closing the locking mechanism. The two devices intended for dedicated heart rate recording yielded the highest user ratings for design, and were clearly preferred for extended wearing time. Yet for all the devices participants identified several important deficiencies in their design, as well as suggestions for improvement. We conclude that the creation of an acceptable monitoring device for older persons requires designers and developers to consider the special demands and abilities of the target group.     

A contrast of the three more common illnesses with the ten less common in a study and 18-month follow-up of 314 psychiatric emergency room patients. II. Characteristics of patients with the three more common illnesses

The three more common illnesses diagnosed in the sample of 314 emergency room patients were (in order of frequency) affective disorder (N = 135), alcoholism (N = 112), and antisocial personality (N = 57). This study describes the occurrence and frequency of affective disorders and evaluates the relative usefulness of three separate sets of diagnostic criteria for the depressive phase of the illness, which are considered in three self-evident, mutually exclusive groups, the definition of which depends on chronology of onset in relation to other diagnoses. Findings show a 3:2 ratio of primary affective disorder to secondary affective disorder. The 112 diagnoses of alcoholism were based on defined criteria that separated "definite" (N = 102) from probable (N = 10) alcoholism. A high incidence of secondary affective disorder (38%) in patients with a first diagnosis of alcoholism is noted. The third most common diagnosis, antisocial personality, was based on defined criteria requiring a specified number of manifestations both before and after age 15 years. Only 11% of the antisocial personality patients received a single diagnosis of antisocial personality. An additional diagnosis of alcoholism occurred in 61%. Besides antisocial symptoms, the 57 patients reported 74 different nonantisocial symptoms, supporting the conclusion that antisocial personality patients may be as susceptible to neurotic and psychotic symptoms as other patients.     

Experimental measurements of fuel and water crossover in an active DMFC

This study measured polarization curves as well as the high-frequency resistance of active direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) operates at around 80 °C with active controls of temperature, methanol concentration, airflow rate, and relative humidity. The relative humidity of the air did not have noticeable impacts on the fuel cell unless the operating temperature was near the evaporation temperature of water (100 °C). The hydrophobic water management layer (WML) between the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) and cathode air channel increases the mass transfer resistance and improves the water retention in MEA. Adding a WML increased the peak power density, decreased the ohmic resistance, and improved the fuel efficiency of the fuel cell, especially when it operated near 100 °C. This study also quantitatively measured methanol and water crossover as well as the fuel efficiency at different operating currents. The fuel efficiency increased significantly with the increase of the current density. Using a hydrophobic fuel management layer (FML) between the anode fuel channel and MEA reduced the fuel and water crossover rates and increased the ohmic resistance due to the decrease of the water content of the Nafion membrane. The FML improved fuel efficiency by reducing the methanol crossover. The combination of the FML and WML enabled the steady operation of DMFC using highly concentrated methanol solutions (up to 75 wt%).     

Lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) energy and nutrient partitioning in lakes Michigan,Erie and Superior

A concurrent decrease in lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) condition and Diporeia spp. abundance in Lake Michigan has spurred investigations into possible links between the two phenomena. We examined female lake whitefish δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N stable isotopes, growth, reproductive investment, dorsal muscle total lipid and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) contents from lakes Erie, Michigan and Superior to determine whether differences in food source were correlated with measures of stock success. Stocks with higher somatic growth rates and mean reproductive potential had higher energy stores in terms of percent total lipid. Stocks with low muscle lipid concentration also had smaller egg sizes as egg number increased. Diet varied among stocks as evidenced by δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N stable isotope analyses; however, muscle total lipid and DHA were not correlated to apparent Diporeia spp. prey use. When compared to stocks from lakes Erie and Superior, Lake Michigan stocks had lower growth, reproduction, and lipid stores. While stocks in Lake Michigan with access to declining Diporeia spp. populations may still feed on the amphipod, it appears that they are unable to consume the quantities necessary to maintain historical growth and reproduction. Stable isotope analyses of lakes Erie and Superior stocks, with higher growth rates and lipid values, indicated different feeding strategies with no indication of reliance on Diporeia spp. While differences in prey resources may have an effect on lake whitefish stocks, differences in Diporeia spp. abundance alone cannot explain differences in lake whitefish condition observed among the Great Lakes included in this study.     

Pyrolysis of pitch derived from hydrocracked athabasca bitumen

Results of isothermal and temperature-programmed pyrolysis experiments in an inert atmosphere and at temperatures from 350 to 1000 °C are presented. Thermogravimetric techniques using a recording microbalance were employed for following the weight changes occurring during the pyrolysis. Several techniques including ¹³C n.m.r., gas chromatography, mass spectrometry and standard ASTM methods were used to analyse the decomposition products and the unreactive char. The bulk of the weight loss, as much as 35% by weight of the original sample, occurs at temperatures below 500 °C. The mechanism of pyrolysis can be adequately described as proceeding in two stages. During the first stage, when about 20% of the sample decomposes, the pyrolytic reactions follow overall firstorder kinetics. During this stage the apparent activation energy and the pre-exponential factor both increase with increasing extent of reaction and exhibit a kinetic compensation effect. During the remainder of the pyrolysis, the activation energy decreases with increasing extent of reaction and the kinetics become complex.