Patent statistics as related to the industrial development trend in Sweden in the period 1925–1936—I

This article sets out to use statistics on the number of patent applications as a basis for discussing and explaining the industrial development trend in Sweden during the period 1925–1936 from various standpoints. The following topics are examined: The extent and depth of the Depression; Structural changes; Foreign activity in Swedish trade and industry; and the increase in systematic research by firms. The first two of these topics are examined here in Part I of the article. The second two will be dealt with later in Part II.     

The respiratory gas exchange of sea turtle nests (Chelonia, Caretta)

Sea turtles lay about 100 leathery-shelled eggs in a 25 cm diameter chamber carefully excavated about 50 cm deep in a nesting beach, where the eggs exchange gases (at approximately 28 degrees C) during their 60-day incubation period. The sand surrounding the spherical nest chamber restricts the diffusion of gases into and out of the nest so that as embryonic development progresses, PO2 decreases and PCO2 increases in the gas inside the nest. PO2 falls to 80-100 torr and PCO2 rises to 40-60 torr inside 100-egg man-made Chelonia and Caretta nests. The change in gas tensions in the nest during development is very similar to that seen in the air cell of the chicken egg. Gas tensions inside the turtle nest and in the sand surrounding the nest can be described by a radial steady-state diffusion model. The rate of diffusion of gases in the sand is 30-50% of the rate found in the nest and 6-12% of the rate found in an equal volume of air. The sand surrounding the turtle nest appears to determine the gas exchange of the eggs in the nest and is functionally analogous to the shell surrounding the chicken embryo. The female sea turtle may construct her nest so as the maximize its gas exchange and minimize gas partial pressure gradients inside the nest.     

Teenage status of hyperactive and nonhyperactive learning disabled boys

Three groups of learning disabled boys--hyperactives, normoactives, and hypoactives--were studied in grade school, reevaluated at fourteen. At follow-up, all three groups remained at disadvantage to controls on academic and cognitive measures and on complex reaction time. Half the hyperactives had experienced major conflicts with authority, and over a third of hypoactives exhibited psychologically disturbing behaviors. Mental health of normoactives appeared comparable to controls.     

Computer Detection of Distortion in Arterial Pressure Signals

An application of the mathematical concept of curvature to the detection of distortion in arterial pressure signals is described. Curvature is defined and examples of digitally filtered pressure tracings show the relationship between curvature and the degree of damping. Even though curvature is also a function of the cardiovascular system producing the signal, the average sum of curvature can generally distinguish control signals from signals distorted by moderate amounts of blood or air in the catheter systems. Selected pressure signals with their associated sums of curvature show the properties and limitations of curvature for discriminating between the changes in the cardio-vascular system and distortion of pressure signals.     

Cognitive sex differences and mathematics and science achievement.

Comments on the original article "Sex Differences in Intrinsic Aptitude for Mathematics and Science?: A Critical Review," by E. S. Spelke (see record 2005-15840-001). Spelke considered "three claims that cognitive sex differences account for the differential representation of men and women in high-level careers in mathematics and science." The focus of this comment is on the claim regarding gender differences in mean levels of cognitive abilities. Spelke claimed (p. 954) that "most investigators of sex differences have concluded that males and females have equal cognitive ability, with somewhat different profiles." There are two major components to this comment. The first is mainly theoretical, and the second is both theoretical and empirical. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of cultivar,root weight,storage and boiling on carbohydrate content in carrots (Daucus carota L)

The effects of cultivar (n = 4), root weight (n = 4), storage (5 months) and boiling (7 min) and their interactions on the content of dry matter and carbohydrates were studied and ranked in carrots. Boiling had the greatest effect and had an influence on all variables except the ratio between sucrose and the monosaccharides glucose and fructose. The choice of cultivar was also of great importance as regards glucose, fructose and sucrose content, while dietary fibre and dry matter were much less affected, or even unaffected, by this factor. Root weight and storage were consistently of less significance than boiling and cultivar. Thus dietary fibre solubility, fructose content and the ratio between sucrose and the monosaccharides glucose and fructose were independent of the root weight, while storage had no impact on the dry matter content. After storage the cultivar Lonto had lost more dry matter than the other cultivars (10% versus mean 1% for the others, P = 0.009) and the sugar ratio between sucrose and the monosaccharides glucose and fructose had increased in the cultivar Amarant, while it decreased in the other cultivars (P < 0.001). Furthermore, Amarant had a lower loss of sugars (35%) following boiling than the other cultivars (mean 39%, P = 0.002). Storage and boiling interacted concerning soluble and insoluble dietary fibre, fibre solubility and glucose content. It is concluded that the various factors (especially boiling and cultivar) gave rise to such differences in carbohydrate content and composition that they might be of nutritional importance. The results may thus provide a basis for selecting raw material when studying possible health effects of carrots. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry     

Effects of Light–Temperature Regimes on Plant Growth and Essential Oil Yield of Selected Aromatic Plants

The effects of different light–temperature conditions on leaf growth and essential oil yield and oil composition of Mentha×piperita L, M spicata L, M longifolia L, M rubra L and Chamomilla recutita (L) Rausch were studied in a biotron experiment. A majority of the Mentha L species exposed to a 21–3 h photoperiod, simulating conditions typical of the July environment in northern Sweden, produced significantly higher concentrations of menthol than treatments with shorter photoperiods. Night temperatures had little effects on the menthol levels under the 21 h photoperiod regime. The total yields of menthol and menthone in the Mentha L species were significantly higher in the third to fifth leaf pairs compared to the topmost leaf pair position. The different environmental treatments had no evident effects on leaf growth (measurements based on the five topmost leaf pairs). The combination of 21–3 h photoperiod and 25–18°C thermoperiod resulted in the highest levels of α-bisabolol in C recutita (L) Rausch. Also, bud or flower formation was only induced in treatments with photoperiods ⩾17 h. © 1997 SCI.     

Individual differences in skill learning: An integration of psychometric and information processing perspectives.

Reexamines the nature of individual differences in novel and practiced performance on skill learning tasks from an information processing framework. Two major sources of data and discussion are reanalyzed and critically evaluated. One source concerns the changes in interindividual between-subjects variability with task practice; the other pertains to associations between intellectual abilities and task performance during skill acquisition. Early studies yielded mixed results regarding the convergence or divergence of individual differences with practice. Other studies indicated small or trivial correlations between individual differences in intelligence and "gain" scores. More recent studies indicated small correlations between performance measures on skill learning tasks and standard intellectual and cognitive ability measures, as well as increasing amounts of task-specific variance over learning trials. Data confirm the proposition that individuals converge on performance as tasks become less dependent on attentional resources with practice. When appropriate methodological techniques are used and crucial task characteristics are taken into account, intellectual abilities play a substantial part in determining individual differences in skill learning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influence of laser phase on 400-Mbit/s coherent optical DPSK system

The influence of laser phase noise on a 400-Mb/s optical DPSK (differential phase-shift keying) system is experimentally investigated with linewidths ranging from 1.2 MHz to 8 MHz. This range corresponds to linewidth to bit rate ratios ϵ of 0.33-2%. The system performance with these nonzero linewidths is evaluated against a negligible linewidth performance baseline. The sensitivity degradation at a bit error rate of 10^-9 increases from 1.8 to 7 dB as ϵ is increased from 0.33-1%. When ϵ is increased beyond 1%, bit error rate floors higher than 10^-9 develop. These findings agree well with the existing theories and allow the generalization of these results to other bit rates, as well as establishing practical criteria for lasers to be used in DPSK systems