Eyewitness persuasion: How and how well do fact finders judge the accuracy of adults' and children's memory reports?

Children (aged 5–6 and 9–10 yrs) and adults participated in an eventful laboratory session and provided memory reports of the session. In 3 experiments, college students and parents viewed videotapes of highly accurate and highly inaccurate reports. In 2 experiments, these "fact finders" rated adult witnesses more believable and accurate than younger child witnesses, even when both groups were equally accurate. Perceptions of confidence and consistency mediated credibility judgments. Accurate witnesses were judged more believable and accurate than inaccurate witnesses. Higher perceived confidence, longer free recall, and fewer memory failure admissions were associated with more accurate adult memory reports. Fact finders overused confidence and underused the other cues in achieving modest accuracy discernment. The results suggest how strong and weak memory reports differ and how fact finders may learn to differentiate them. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Severe self-injurious behavior: The problem of clinical control.

Describes the long-term treatment program and follow-up of a case of chronic, severe, multiple self-injurious behavior. The intensity, frequency, and multiplicity of self-injurious behavior in a boy 1st seen at age 61/2 yrs is unparalleled in the literature. Treatment spanned 10 mo and more than 1,000 therapy hrs. Contingent electric shock and differential reinforcement of other behavior were the primary techniques utilized. The specifics of the punishment and reinforcement contingencies were modified throughout the program as a function of the behavior, thereby allowing for evaluation of the various components of the treatment procedures. Although initial results were only partially successful, total suppression was eventually achieved in the laboratory setting. The procedures described for extending this control to the natural environment proved only moderately successful. The technical, ethical, and theoretical issues concerning the treatment of severe self-injurious behavior are discussed. It is suggested that the extrapolation of laboratory evidence to the natural setting is premature in the case of severe self-injurious behavior. Suggested criteria for the assessment of successful clinical treatment of self-injurious behavior are offered. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Lipid composition ofHerrania andTheobroma seeds

The seeds of nineHerrania and nineTheobroma species were surveyed for fatty acid, sterol, tocopherol and tocotrienol compositions. Principal component and cluster analyses suggested that these analytes could be used collectively as chemotaxonomic criteria to differentiate theHerrania species from theTheobroma species, as well as to provide subgroup distinctions within each genus for comparison to the existing classification schemes.     

Light Supports Neurite Outgrowth of Human Neural Progenitor Cells In Vitro: The Role of P2Y Receptors

The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of growth factors and 810-nm-wavelength light on the differentiation of normal human neural progenitor cells (NHNPCs) in vitro. Although growth factors are routinely used to study neural stem and progenitor cells in vitro, to date, light has not been used as a replacement for growth factors. This study demonstrates that NHNPCs are not only capable of being sustained by light in the absence of growth factors, but that they are also able to differentiate normally as assessed by neurite formation. The NHNPCs had an up-regulation in the expression of endogenous fibroblast growth factor-2, brain derived neurotrophic factor, and nerve growth factor in response to the light. Suramin, a nonselective P2 receptor antagonist, significantly decreased neurite outgrowth, and P2Y2 and P2Y11 receptors were found to be expressed by the NHNPCs by immunolabeling. Based on these findings, the mechanism by which light supports the NHNPC differentiation is hypothesized to be due to increases in adenosine triphosphate acting via P2Y receptors.     

BiCMOS circuits for high speed current mode D/A converters

A new BiCMOS current cell and a BiCMOS current switch for high speed, self-calibrating, current-steering D/A converters are described. The BiCMOS current cell can be realized in a BiCMOS process or in a conventional CMOS process using a substrate PNP transistor, while the BiCMOS current switch is intended for implementation in a BiCMOS process. The performance of these circuits has been demonstrated in 0.8 μm BiCMOS and 1.2-μm CMOS technologies. A detailed noise analysis of the BiCMOS current cell indicates that noise during the calibration phase limits its relative accuracy to about 150 ppm. This is substantiated by measured results which show a relative matching of about 100-150 ppm, which is the equivalent of about 13 b performance. Measurement results also indicate that the absolute accuracy of the BiCMOS current cell is better than 0.5% over the designed current range, which is better than that of previously reported designs. Test results for the BiCMOS current switch indicate that a 10-90% switching time of 0.9 ns has been achieved. Furthermore, the switching time of the new BiCMOS switch is very insensitive to current level and input waveform compared to conventional CMOS switches. A 4-b D/A converter based on these components has been fabricated, and test results have demonstrated that it is functional. This DAC will be used as the internal DAC of a ΣΔ modulator for over-sampled video and digital radio applications     

Intermittent punishment of self-stimulation: Effectiveness during application and extinction.

Performed 2 studies comparing the effectiveness of FR and VR schedules of punishment during application and extinction. In Study 1, the self-stimulatory behavior of a young boy was punished on both an FR 1 and a VR 5 schedule using a multi-element, multiple-baseline reversal design. Study 2 investigated the effects of FR 1 and VR 5 schedules of punishment on multiple forms of self-stimulation in a young girl using a multi-element multiple-baseline reversal design. Both studies indicated no difference in the suppressive effects of the FR 1 and VR 5. Study 2 indicated that the VR schedule produced superior resistance to extinction. Both studies found significant positive "side effects" of punishment in terms of increased play and social behavior as well as increased performance of academic tasks. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Identification and quantitation of γ-oryzanol components and simultaneous assessment of tocols in rice bran oil

A reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography method was developed for the simultaneous separation and quantitation of tocopherols, tocotrienols and oryzanols present in rice bran oil. Tocopherols and tocotrienols were quantitated by fluorescence detection and oryzanols (ferulic acid esters of sterols and triterpene alcohols) by photodiode array detection. Chemical ionization mass spectrometry was used to identify cycloartenyl ferulate, 24-methylene cycloartanyl ferulate, campesteryl ferulate, β-sitosteryl ferulate and cycloartanyl ferulate as the major oryzanols separated by this procedure. The levels of these nutritionally significant components were found to vary in fully processed, edible rice bran oils from different manufacturers.