Competition and school achievement among Anglo-American and Mexican-American children.

Tested the hypothesis that the less competitive orientation of Mexican-American children is related to their lower school achievement. 230 Anglo-American and Mexican-American children attending kindergarten, Grades 1–2, 4, and 6 of a semirural low-income school were administered individual measures of competition, individualism, field independence, and school achievement (California Achievement Tests, Cooperative Primary Tests, and the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills). Results indicate significant effects of culture, sex, and age, but competition and individualism were not significantly correlated with each other and were not consistently related to field independence and school achievement. Results support the general conclusion that the less competitive social orientation of Mexican-American children as measured by experimental games is not necessarily a disadvantage with regard to school achievement. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conflict resolution among field-independent and field-dependent Anglo-American and Mexican-American children and their mothers.

32 Anglo-American and Mexican-American boys and girls selected for their extreme field independence or dependence (Man-in-the Frame box, adapted from the rod-and-frame test) interacted with their mothers in 3 role plays designed to provoke conflict over issues of maternal authority and children's independence. The mother–child interactions were recorded, transcribed, and content analyzed. Anglo-American children more often than Mexican-American children entered and persisted in direct conflict with their mothers as indicated by a number of variables such as disagreement and justification of their own will. There was some tendency for Mexican-American mothers to ask fewer questions and to assert their own will more than Anglo-American mothers. Field independence among boys, but field dependence among girls, was associated with more assertive behaviors. Mothers of field-independent children used a somewhat more elaborate verbal code. The study supports hypothesized cultural differences in mother–child interaction patterns, but fails to support the presumed socialization antecedents of field dependence and the cross-sex generality of its correlates. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Blackcurrant pomace from juice processing as partial flour substitute in savoury crackers: dough characteristics and product properties

Berry pomace is a by‐product of juice processing that, after drying and milling, may be used as an ingredient in cereal‐based products. This, on the one hand, not only reduces losses of edible raw material components, but also increases the nutritional value of the target food because of its high dietary fibre and bioactive compounds content. By using savoury crackers as model, this study analyses how a partial flour replacement by blackcurrant pomace (levels: 10%, 20% or 30%) affects physical properties of the respective dough (dynamic rheology in simulated baking, extensibility and adhesiveness) and characteristics of the baked product (colour, texture and sensory properties). Pomace addition significantly affected both systems. By considering the high moisture absorption capacity of this material through water level adaptation in formulations and by only substituting gluten‐free flour (which led to a constant gluten content), it is demonstrated that even a flour replacement of up to 30% leads to acceptable products. A restrained protein development was observed in pomace containing dough, leading to a lower extensibility, and to reduced volume increase and lower breaking force after baking. In contrast, dough handling and sensory acceptance were not corrupted by pomace application even though colour of the final product was changed to a great extent.     

DNA damage by PAH and repair in a marine sponge

The sponge Tethya lyncurium from the Northern Adriatic has been used as an experimental species.A method is outlined for preparation of DNA which yields a highly purified DNA with a double-strand (ds) molecular weight of 25 M-dalton between single-strand (ss) breaks, which when properly damaged can be cut opposite to ss-breaks with nuclease s₁. The molecular weights of the resulting ds-DNA pieces and their distribution has been evaluated by electron microscope photographs.Sponges exposed to benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) in the dark only incorporate BaP-derivatives (BaPD) in small amounts, if any. However, in the presence of light, derivatization to BaP derivatives enables effective coupling to occur, as shown previously (R. K. Zahn et al., 1981). Sponges were exposed to radiolabeled BaP in the presence of light. Coupling of BaPD to the DNA as well as the induction of ss-breaks were measured.Light-mediated coupling is concentration dependent from 0.01 – 20 ppb BaP with a correlation coefficient of r = 0.84.Under conditions of possible repair, ss-breaks completely disappear from sponge DNA in the course of three weeks while a substantial fraction of the BaP derivatives persists.Double label experiments show that substantial DNA synthesis occurs during this time. Pollution causes a decrease of the molecular weight of unnicked DNA, re-incubation in clean water an increase. A DNA species of 24 M-dalton seems to play a critical role. If its percentage in the DNA population drops below a critical level, recovery is not longer possible. DNA damage by PAH and repair in sponges seems to differ from that of most eucaryotes.     

Balloon dilatation in acute myocardial infarct in routine clinical practice: results of the register of the Working Society of Leading Cardiologic Hospital Physicians in 4,625 patients

Balloon angioplasty as the treatment of first choice in the setting of an acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is gaining widespread acceptance because of favourable results from specialised centres concerning high patency rates and low mortality. This study reports the results of angioplasty for AMI at large community hospitals during 1992-1995. 4625 procedures were performed at 68 centres of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Leitender Kardiologischer Krankenhaus?rzte (ALKK). The age of the patients was 60.8 +/- 11.3 years, with 75.1% men. The infarct related artery was the left anterior descendent in 43%, the right coronary artery in 37%, the circumflex artery in 16%, a bypass graft in 2.3% and the left main stem in 1.4% of patients. The success rate (residual stenosis < 50%) of the intervention was 86%. There was a wide range of procedures per centre, with a median of 40 AMI angioplasties per year and centre. The amount of angioplasties for AMI in relation to all angioplasties performed during this period rose from 5.2% in 1992 to 5.9% in 1995 (p = 0.01). Local complications at the puncture site occurred in 3.2%, with the need for a surgical intervention in 1.1% of patients. In 273 (5.9%) of the patients a second angioplasty was performed during the hospital stay. Aortocoronary bypass surgery was performed in 3% of the patients. Hospital mortality was 9.5% (438/4625 patients). The mortality rate remained constant during the years investigated (1992: 10.6%; 1993: 8.6%; 1994: 9.7%; 1995: 9.8%; p = ns). Higher mortality was observed in older patients, patients with multiple vessel disease, the left anterior descending artery or a bypass graft as infarct related artery as well as in patients with failed reperfusion (residual stenoses > 50%). Hospitals with a case load of more than 40 angioplasties for AMI per year showed a lower mortality as compared to the others. In clinical practice at large community hospitals results of angioplasty for AMI concerning mortality, complications and technical success rate are comparable to those of highly specialised centres. The absolute numbers of angioplasties for AMI increased constantly over the years.     

Propagation and structure of streamers in liquid dielectrics

Our purpose is to present a critical review of the current understanding of streamer propagation in dielectric liquids in order to help define the direction of future research. We show that the molecular structure has a significant effect on streamer propagation. The main parameter affecting propagation is the electronic affinity of the liquid molecules     

Moisture equilibrium in transformer paper-oil systems

This paper provides an overview of the classic moisture equilibrium curves and their history and provides useful information on the relationships among them and their validity