Increased cognitive load leads to impaired mobility decisions in seniors at risk for falls.

Successful mobility requires appropriate decision-making. Seniors with reduced executive functioning—such as senior fallers—may be prone to poor mobility judgments, especially under dual-task conditions. We classified participants as “At-Risk” and “Not-At-Risk” for falls using a validated physiological falls-risk assessment. Dual-task performance was assessed in a virtual reality environment where participants crossed a simulated street by walking on a manual treadmill while listening to music or conversing on a phone. Those “At-Risk” experienced more collisions with oncoming cars and had longer crossing times in the Phone condition compared to controls. We conclude that poor mobility judgments during a dual-task leads to unsafe mobility for those at-risk for falls. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Double dissociation in the anatomy of socioemotional disinhibition and executive functioning in dementia.

Objective: To determine whether socioemotional disinhibition and executive dysfunction are related to dissociable patterns of brain atrophy in neurodegenerative disease. Previous studies have indicated that behavioral and cognitive dysfunction in neurodegenerative disease are linked to atrophy in different parts of the frontal lobes, but these prior studies did not establish that these relationships were specific, which would best be demonstrated by a double dissociation. Method: Subjects included 157 patients with neurodegenerative disease. A semiautomated parcellation program (Freesurfer) was used to generate regional cortical volumes from structural MRI scans. Regions of interest (ROIs) included anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), middle frontal gyrus (MFG), and inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). Socioemotional disinhibition was measured using the Neuropsychiatric Inventory. Principal component analysis including 3 tasks of executive function (EF; verbal fluency, Stroop Interference, modified Trails) was used to generate a single-factor score to represent EF. Results: Partial correlations between ROIs, disinhibition, and EF were computed after controlling for total intracranial volume, Mini-Mental State Examination, diagnosis, age, and education. Brain regions significantly correlated with disinhibition (ACC, OFC, IFG, and temporal lobes) and EF (MFG) were entered into separate hierarchical regressions to determine which brain regions predicted disinhibition and EF. OFC was the only brain region to significantly predict disinhibition, and MFG significantly predicted EF performance. A multivariate general linear model demonstrated a significant interaction between ROIs and cognitive–behavioral functions. Conclusions: These results support a specific association between orbitofrontal areas and behavioral management as compared with dorsolateral areas and EF. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Correction of optical phase aberrations using binary-amplitude modulation

We show that phase aberrations in an imaging system can be mitigated using binary-amplitude masks that reduce destructive interference in the image spatial frequency domain. Appropriately designed masks increase the magnitude of the optical transfer function and prevent nulls. This offers a low-cost, transmission-mode alternative to phase correction as used in active and adaptive optics, without a restriction on the waveband of operation.     

A kinetic study of bread staling by differential scanning calorimetry. The effect of loaf specific volume

Changes in the starch fraction of bread at 21°C have been measured as a function of loaf specific volume using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Data from five bakes were fitted by Avrami equations Ø = exp (-ktⁿ) (where Ø is the fraction of the total thermal change still to occur) using an iterative non-linear least squares procedure which enabled simultaneous estimation of limiting value, rate constant (k) and Avrami exponent (n). The method allowed the fit of a number of different models to be tested. It was concluded that Avrami exponents from each bake were the same and < 1 and that the rate constants were also equal. For comparison, crumb compressibility measurements were made on the same loaves used for DSC. These data were also analysed in a similar way. An adequate fit in this case was given by an Avrami exponent of 1; however, rate constants appeared to vary with loaf specific volume.     

Evaluation of commercial red fruit juice concentrates as ingredients for antioxidant functional juices

Phenolic profiles of nine red fruit commercial juice concentrates were characterised by means of high -performance liquid chromatography–diode array detection–mass spectrometry–mass spectrometry. Flavonoids such as anthocyanins, flavonols, hydroxycinnamic acid derivatives, stilbenoids, flavan 3-ols, ellagic acid derivatives, and other phenolic acids, were both identified and quantified in chokeberry, elderberry, blackcurrant and redcurrant, strawberry, red grape, cherry, plum, and raspberry commercial juice concentrates. Once the characterisation was carried out, the antioxidant capacity of each concentrate was assessed in vitro by means of two different methods: the 2,2-azinobis(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity) method and the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical method. Elderberry, chokeberry and blackcurrant concentrates were the richest in total phenolics and they had the strongest antioxidant capacity; therefore, these three juices may have huge interest as ingredients in the design of functional juices.     

The potential of colour measurement for strength prediction of thermally treated wood

This paper investigates the effects of thermal treatment of birch with respect to colour and strength. Birch wood was treated at 175 °C and 200 °C for 0 h, 1 h, 3 h and 10 h. In bending-strength experiments, treatment was also performed at 185 °C for 2 h. Both static bending strength and impact bending strength were investigated using multivariate statistics (PLS) for correlation to process parameters, density, EMC, position in board, modulus of elasticity (only in static bending), colour and dimensions of samples. In static bending, two PLS models were designed, one based on process parameters and the other based on colour and EMC. From these models it was concluded that colour is not a useful parameter for prediction of strength. In impacted bending, the correlation was too small to give useful results. One test of static bending strength with matched samples was performed, and it showed a strength reduction of 43% when treatment was conducted at 200 °C for 3 h. Measurement of colour homogeneity of the treated boards showed that the colour is not homogeneous.     

Temperature dependence of the air concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls and polybrominated diphenyl ethers in a forest and a clearing

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) were quantified in 67 high volume air samples taken concurrently in a forest and a clearing in southern Ontario, Canada from October 2001 to November 2002. Air concentrations were comparable between the two sites. Gaseous PCBs ranged from 6.4 to 150 pg x m(-3), and gaseous PBDEs ranged from below method detection limit (BDL) to 55 pg x m(-3) (with two extreme events up to 290 pg x m(-3)). Particulate PBDEs ranged from BDL to 40 pg x m(-3). Gaseous concentrations of PCBs and PBDEs were highly temperature dependent, suggesting a relatively strong influence of re-evaporation. Air concentrations of highly chlorinated PCBs in the forest were more temperature dependent than those in the clearing, whereas no difference was observed for the less-chlorinated PCBs. Forest filtering may have enriched highly chlorinated PCBs in the forest soil relative to the soil in the clearing, resulting in a higher contribution of re-evaporation for highly chlorinated PCBs at the forest. Compared to measurements conducted a decade earlier at a nearby site, PCB air concentrations were generally less temperature dependent, indicative of a reduction in the contribution of re-evaporation in the region. Furthermore, a significant correlation was found between temperature dependence and degree of chlorination, which had not been apparent in the previous study. This is presumably because depuration from soils occurred slower for highly chlorinated PCBs, resulting in their relatively higher abundance in terrestrial surfaces and, therefore, higher contribution from re-evaporation. Contrasting with the PCBs, the temperature dependence of PBDE air concentrations did not differ between congeners or between forest and clearing site. This could be a result of different usage and emission history: PCBs were banned approximately three decades ago, whereas PBDEs are currently still in use. Consequently, the influence of primary emissions on air concentrations is expected to be more important for PBDEs than for PCBs.     

Behavior of Yersinia enterocolitica strains inoculated in model cheese treated with high hydrostatic pressure

The effects of high hydrostatic pressure treatment and the ability for survival, repair, and growth of three human pathogenic serotypes (O:1, O:3, O:8) of Yersinia enterocolitica were investigated in washed-curd model cheese made with pasteurized bovine milk. Samples were treated at 300, 400, and 500 MPa for 10 min at 20 degrees C and analyzed at 0, 1, 7, and 15 days to assess the viability of the Yersinia population. A long-term study (up to 60 days of ripening after high hydrostatic pressure treatment) was also undertaken. Treatments at 400 and 500 MPa caused maximum lethality, and only the treatment at 300 MPa showed significant differences (P < 0.05) between serotypes; the most baroresistant was O:3. Ability to repair and grow was not observed after 15 days of storage at 8 degrees C. Yersinia counts in untreated cheese samples also decreased below the detection limit at day 45 in the long-term study. These results suggest that the cheese environment did not allow recovery of injured cells or growth. A primary contributing factor to this effect seemed to be the low pH resulting from the production of lactic acid during cheese ripening.     

Identification of halothane genotypes by calcium accumulation and their meat quality using live pigs

The three halothane genotypes (NN, Nn, and nm) were identified by measuring the capacity for Ca²⁺ accumulation by sarcoplasmic reticulum in whole muscle homogenate preparations of M. longissimus dorsi with a Ca²⁺ specific electrode at 35°C. Significant differences (P < 0·001) in deterioration (%) of Ca²⁺ accumulation, 12% for NN, 35% for Nn, and 81% for nn pigs, were observed after ageing the whole muscle homogenate preparations for 24 h in ice.

Predictions of meat quality in live pigs (n = 34) based on the values for water-holding capacity, assessed as fluid (g/0·5 g wet wt LD), and pH (fluid) by using small biopsy LD samples (Cheah et al. 1993) were performed on all the halothane genotypes. The halothane genotype NN (n = 11) showed a fluid value of 0·37 ± 0·01 and a pH (fluid) value of 6·62 ± 0·03 as compared with 0·61 ± 0·02 and 5·84 ± 0·04, respectively, for the halothane genotype nn (n = 13). The Nn pigs (n = 10) showed fluid (0·49 ± 0·03) and pH (fluid) (6·19 ± 0·11) values between those values observed for the two homozygotes (NN and nn). Predictions of meat quality in live pigs from biopsy LD muscles were confirmed from assessments on post-mortem LD muscles based on pH₁ and fibre optic probe (FOP) measurements.

The extent of deterioration (%) in Ca²⁺ accumulation showed high correlations with fluid (r = −0·861) and pH (fluid) (r = −0·831) in the biopsy LD samples, and with pH₁ (r = 0·663), FOP (r = −0·812), and drip (%) loss (r = −0·777) in the post-mortem LD samples.     

Functional characterization of human and fungal MAP kinases in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

A functional comparison of three human SAPKs with fungal Hog1p was undertaken, using Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a heterologous expression system. We characterized the role of mammalian MAP kinases in sensitivity to both osmotic and oxidative stress of a S. cerevisiae hog1 mutant. Western blot analyses indicated that S. cerevisiae can only phosphorylate mammalian MAP kinases in response to osmotic stress but not to oxidative stress, while morphogenetic defects characteristic of hog1 mutants under hyperosmotic stress are only suppressed by fungal and not mammalian Hog1p. Our data demonstrate the functional conservation of MAPKs although they also evidence differential aspects among the three human SAPKs and the fungal MAPKs.