Understanding the influence of demographic and psychological variables on retirement planning.

The authors examined the degree to which workers were engaging in financial, health, interpersonal/leisure, and work planning for retirement, exploring whether demographic and psychological variables inhibited or promoted planning in each of these domains. Planning in each domain was influenced by a unique set of variables. Goals emerged as a consistent and positive predictor of planning. Gender accounted for health and interpersonal/leisure planning, while work planning behavior was negatively predicted by income. Time perspective also helped to clarify the amount of retirement planning undertaken in the financial and interpersonal/leisure domains. Practical implications for designing retirement interventions are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Enhanced Electro‐Optic Behavior for Shaped Polymer Cholesteric Liquid‐Crystal Flakes Made Using Soft Lithography

Polymer cholesteric liquid‐crystal (PCLC) flakes were investigated for their electro‐optical behavior under an applied alternating‐current field. Shaped flakes, fabricated using soft lithography and suspended in dielectric‐fluid‐filled cells, reoriented more uniformly than randomly shaped flakes made by fracturing of PCLC films. Extensive characterization found shaped flakes to be smooth and uniform in size, shape, and thickness. Reorientation in applied fields as low as tens of mV_rms μm^–1 was fastest for flakes with lateral aspect ratios greater than 1:1, confirming theoretical predictions based on Maxwell–Wagner polarization. Brilliant reflective colors and inherent polarization make shaped PCLC flakes of interest for particle displays.     

Cover Picture: Enhanced Electro‐Optic Behavior for Shaped Polymer Cholesteric Liquid‐Crystal Flakes Made Using Soft Lithography (Adv. Funct. Mater. 2/2005)

The cover shows a variety of shaped flakes fabricated from polymer cholesteric liquid‐crystal material using soft lithography. In work reported by Jacobs and co‐workers on p. 217, the micrometer‐sized flakes exhibit brilliant circularly polarized selective reflection colors without polarizers or color filters when placed in a fluid‐filled electro‐optic cell. With the application of a low‐magnitude alternating current field, the flakes reorient in hundreds of milliseconds and the colors disappear. Polymer cholesteric liquid‐crystal (PCLC) flakes were investigated for their electro‐optical behavior under an applied alternating‐current field. Shaped flakes, fabricated using soft lithography and suspended in dielectric‐fluid‐filled cells, reoriented more uniformly than randomly shaped flakes made by fracturing of PCLC films. Extensive characterization found shaped flakes to be smooth and uniform in size, shape, and thickness. Reorientation in applied fields as low as tens of mV_rms μm^–1 was fastest for flakes with lateral aspect ratios greater than 1:1, confirming theoretical predictions based on Maxwell–Wagner polarization. Brilliant reflective colors and inherent polarization make shaped PCLC flakes of interest for particle displays.