Early, Involuntary Top-Down Guidance of Attention From Working Memory.

Four experiments explored the interrelations between working memory, attention, and eye movements. Observers had to identify a tilted line amongst vertical distractors. Each line was surrounded by a colored shape that could be precued by a matching item held in memory. Relative to a neutral baseline, in which no shapes matched the memory item, search was more efficient when the memory cue matched the shape containing the target, and it was less efficient when the cued stimulus contained a distractor. Cuing affected the shortest reaction times and the first saccade in search. The effect occurred even when the memory cue was always invalid but not when the cue did not have to be held in memory. There was also no evidence for priming effects between consecutive trials. The results suggest that there can be early, involuntary top-down directing of attention to a stimulus matching the contents of working memory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Preview Search and Contextual Cuing.

We investigated the effect of contextual cuing (M. M. Chun & Y. Jiang, 1998) within the preview paradigm (D. G. Watson & G. W. Humphreys, 1997). Contextual cuing was shown with a 10-item letter search but not with more crowded 20-item displays. However, contextual learning did occur in a preview procedure in which 10 preview items were followed by 10 new items. Repeating the new items alone did not generate contextual learning, but repeating the preview items alone did, as long as they had a consistent spatial relation with the target. This was not merely due to the onset of the preview items being associated with the target location. No learning effect took place with a preview of homogeneous items that competed less for selection with new stimuli. The results provide evidence for old items being processed in preview search and providing a context for subsequent search of new items. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Light stability and flash photolysis of azo dyes in epoxy resins

The photofading of three azo dyes is examined in various epoxy resin films and the data compared with their photochemical behaviour on flash photolysis in solutions of the resin components. The rate of photofading is found to be mainly dependent upon the structure of the amine hardener and the results are correlated with hydrazyl radical production on solution flash photolysis. Evidence is presented to show that photoreduction is the most important primary photochemical process for azo dyes in epoxy resin films.     

Untersuchungen über die Trennfestigkeit von Stahl

Erklärung des Begriffes der Trennfestigkeit sowie ihrer Abhängigkeit vom Spannungszustand. Zusammenhang mit der Fließbedingung von R. v. Mises und der Festigkeitshypothese von G. D. Sandel. Ermittlung der linearen Festigkeit im Zugversuch an Stäben aus dem Baustahl St 42 mit 0,09% C und aus den unlegierten Edelstählen Ck 22 mit 0,22% C und Ck 35 mit 0,33% C. Berechnung von polarer Trennfestigkeit und Einführung eines Kennwertes für die Trennbruchsicherheit.     

Inhibitory mechanisms of attentional networks: Spatial and semantic inhibitory processing.

Four experiments assessed the relationships between the orienting and the executive networks of visual attention. Experiment 1 showed spatial inhibition of return (IOR) with target words. Experiment 2 showed a type of semantic inhibition that mimicked spatial IOR. Reaction times to targets preceded by 2 consecutively presented words, the prime and the intervening stimulus, were longer when the target and prime were related than when they were unrelated. Experiment 3 combined spatial and semantic inhibition in a lexical-decision task. Spatial IOR was observed with both related and unrelated targets, but semantic inhibition was observed only when target words were presented in uncued locations. A similar interaction between IOR and positive semantic priming was observed when the intervening stimulus was not presented (Experiment 4). Implications for the relationships between the 2 attentional networks are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Barium selenate supplementation and its effect on intramammary infection in pasture-based dairy cows

A significant proportion of cattle receive inadequate dietary Se because of its low content in soils and pastures of various regions of the world. Several economically important diseases in dairy cows, such as mastitis, have been associated with Se deficiency. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of a single injection of a long-acting form of Se at drying off on the risk and incidence rate of new intramammary infections and on milk somatic cell count in the subsequent lactation in pasture-based dairy cows. Forty-nine Chilean Holstein-Friesian cows were fed a diet containing <0.05 mg of Se/kg of ration dry matter. During the dry period, cows were allocated to 1 of 2 groups, a supplemented (n = 24) group treated with a single subcutaneous injection of barium selenate 2 mo before calving and a control group (n = 25) that remained unsupplemented. Duplicate foremilk samples were aseptically collected within 6 d after calving and every 2 wk until drying-off for bacteriological culture. Milk samples were also collected monthly for somatic cell count evaluation. Blood samples were collected before treatment and at 30, 90, 180, and 270 d after treatment for analysis of blood glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity. The activity of glutathione peroxidase was higher in supplemented cows 30 d after the injection until the end of the study. The risk and incidence rate of new intramammary infections was not affected by supplementation. A progressive increase in somatic cell count was observed throughout lactation, but there was no effect of supplementation. In conclusion, a one-time injection of barium selenate 2 mo before calving in these pasture-based dairy cows did not affect udder health in the subsequent lactation, indicating that Se basal intake was adequate for preventing subclinical mastitis in pasture-based cows in southern Chile.     

Two time-derivative Lorentz material (2TDLM) formulation of aMaxwellian absorbing layer matched to a lossy medium

A two time-derivative Lorentz material (2TDLM) is introduced to define polarization and magnetization fields that lead to an absorbing layer that can be matched to a lossy dielectric medium. The 2TDLM is a generalization of the successful uniaxial polarization and magnetization time-derivative Lorentz material (TDLM) which has been introduced as an absorbing boundary condition for simulation regions dealing with lossless materials. Expressions are derived to describe the propagation of an arbitrary plane wave in this 2TDLM Maxwellian absorbing material. They are used to study the scattering from a semi-infinite 2TDLM half-space of an arbitrary plane wave incident upon it from a lossy isotropic dielectric medium. Matching conditions are derived which produce reflectionless transmission through such an interface for any angle of incidence and frequency. Numerical tests are given which demonstrate the effectiveness of the resulting 2TDLM absorbing layer     

Aluminium Nanoparticles as Efficient Adjuvants Compared to Their Microparticle Counterparts: Current Progress and Perspectives

Aluminium (Al) compounds are used as adjuvants in human and veterinary prophylactic vaccines due to their improved tolerability compared to other adjuvants. These Al-based adjuvants form microparticles (MPs) of heterogeneous sizes ranging from ~0.5 to 10 µm and generally induce type 2 (Th2)-biased immune responses. However, recent literature indicates that moving from micron dimension particles toward the nanoscale can modify the adjuvanticity of Al towards type 1 (Th1) responses, which can potentially be exploited for the development of vaccines for which Th1 immunity is crucial. Specifically, in the context of cancer treatments, Al nanoparticles (Al-NPs) can induce a more balanced (Th1/Th2), robust, and durable immune response associated with an increased number of cytotoxic T cells compared to Al-MPs, which are more favourable for stimulating an oncolytic response. In this review, we compare the adjuvant properties of Al-NPs to those of Al-MPs in the context of infectious disease vaccines and cancer immunotherapy and provide perspectives for future research.     

Hydrocolloids with emulsifying capacity. Part 2 – Adsorption properties at the n-hexadecane–Water interface

The ability to adsorb at n-hexadecane – water interface of natural hydrocolloids was quantified by dynamic drop tensiometry. Conventional and matured hydrocolloids samples from Acacia senegal, Acacia seyal (AcSey), Sugar Beet Pectin (SBP) and natural untreated Gum Ghatti (GG), were studied in aqueous solutions at pH 4.5. Maturation of A. senegal gum (Acacia (sen) SUPERGUM? EM2, designated as EM2) increased its ability to lower interfacial tension and the elastic characteristics of the interfacial film. This change in properties can be attributed to the increase in molecular weight and in arabino-galactan-protein (AGP) content. EM2 exhibited the best interfacial properties. Conventional and matured AcSey presented interfacial properties that were similar to conventional A. senegal (GAc), correlating with minimal changes observed in their structural features after maturation. Gum ghatti reacted similarly to EM2 and presented relatively fast kinetic profiles, revealing the good qualities of this gum. The kinetics associated with all the hydrocolloids at pH 4.5 have been described using a mathematical model, from which quantitative parameters as onset time or half-time of interfacial-tension-decrease were determined. Compared to the other hydrocolloids, SBP adsorbs by a different mechanism. However, pectin presented the lowest final interfacial tension and gave the more elastic interfacial film. Acidification of hydrocolloid solutions to pH 3.1 increased both the ability to lower the interfacial tension and the elastic characteristics of interfacial film. The effect of structural modifications on interfacial properties was demonstrated, and clarifies further the already observed emulsification behaviour of the studied hydrocolloid.