Category Norms as a Function of Culture and Age: Comparisons of Item Responses to 105 Categories by American and Chinese Adults.

Understanding how aging influences cognition across different cultures has been hindered by a lack of standardized, cross-referenced verbal stimuli. This study introduces a database of such item-level stimuli for both younger and older adults, in China and the United States, and makes 3 distinct contributions. First, the authors specify which item categories generalize across age and/or cultural groups, rigorously quantifying differences among them. Second, they introduce novel, powerful methods to measure between-group differences in freely generated ranked data, the rank-ordered logit model and Hellinger Affinity. Finally, a broad archive of tested, cross-linguistic stimuli is now freely available to researchers: data, similarity measures, and all stimulus materials for 105 categories and 4 culture-by-age groups, comprising over 10,000 fully translated unique item responses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Contributions of source and inhibitory mechanisms to age-related retroactive interference in verbal working memory.

Determining contributions of source-monitoring and inhibitory function to age-related forgetting has been an elusive goal for cognitive theorists. Five studies used a verbal working memory paradigm to examine mechanisms accounting for disproportionate retroactive interference (RI) experienced with adult aging. Participants distinguished studied target-word pairs from interfering pairs that were read aloud. Source-monitoring and inhibitory task components varied through manipulations of response requirements. RI effects were primarily due to source-monitoring failures rather than to inhibitory failures. Removing both source and inhibitory components eliminated age differences in RI. When source monitoring was emphasized, RI continued to be observed in all age groups but disproportionately for older adults. Process dissociation analyses of memory found recollection decreases and familiarity increases consistent with source failures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Extraction of rice brain oil using supercritical carbon dioxide and propane

Extraction of rice bran lipids was performed using supercritical carbon dioxide (SC−CO₂) and liquid propane. To provide a basis for extraction efficiency, accelerated solvent extraction with hexane was performed at 100°C and 10.34 MPa. Extraction pressure was varied for propane and SC−CO₂ extractions. Also, the role of temperature in SC−CO₂ extraction efficiency was investigated at 45,65, and 85°C. For the SC−CO₂ experiments, extraction efficiencies were proportional to pressure and inversely proportional to temperature, and the maximal yield of oil achieved using SC−CO₂ was 0.222±0.013 kg of oil extracted per kg of rice bran for conditions of 45°C and 35 MPa. The maximal yield achieved with propane was 0.224±0.016 kg of oil per kg of rice bran at 0.76 MPa and ambient temperature. The maximum extraction efficiencies of both SC−CO₂ and propane were found to be significantly different from the hexane extraction baseline yield, which was 0.261±0.005 kg oil extracted per kg of rice bran. A simulated economic analysis was performed on the possibility of using SC−CO₂ and propane extraction technologies to remove oil from rice bran generated in Mississippi. Although the economic analysis was based on the maximal extraction efficiency for each technology, neither process resulted in a positive rate of return on investment.     

Effects of thiol additives on urethane acrylate UV primers for SMC applications

Sheet molded compound (SMC) is a highly filled, glass fiber reinforced, thermoset material used in trim and body panel automotive parts. When SMC-substrates are coated with conventional thermally cured paints, inherent porosity and entrapped volatiles of the substrate result in popping (“paint pops”) defects. UV-curable primers (UVP) provide an order of magnitude reduction of paint defects in SMC coatings, but typically have poor adhesion. Mercaptan polymers have a long history, dating back to 1928, of use in adhesives and sealant applications. The present study investigates a series of UVPs, showing the effect of resin functionality and thiol functional additive content on the adhesion of the coatings to SMC substrates. The SMC formulation is also considered when evaluating UVP adhesion, regarding variables such as surface chemistry, morphology, and surface area. The present study brings to light how adhesion of acrylate UVP can be enhanced with mercaptan moieties in additive amounts. The effect is most apparent on SMC substrates that have been treated to expose inorganic fillers as opposed to untreated surfaces of polyester. Additionally annealing the films boosts adhesion, but only in thiol containing formulations. This is a result of the decrease in T_gs and modulus of the films with the addition of mercaptans, thus providing better contact with the substrate in comparison to non-thiol containing formulations.     

Scaling of visuospatial attention undergoes differential longitudinal change as a function of APOE genotype prior to old age: Results from the NIMH BIOCARD Study.

The effect of apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype on longitudinal cognitive decline in midlife was investigated with attentional scaling. Healthy individuals (mean age 59.6 years) genotyped for APOE were tested at 3 12-month intervals on a cued visual search task. A random effects model revealed significant interaction in effect of precue size on search speed between APOE-ε4 gene dose and assessment, with longitudinal increases in noncarriers and heterozygotes but longitudinal decreases in homozygotes. Association of APOE-ε4 with cognitive decline in midlife is consistent with an Alzheimer's disease (AD) prodrome, albeit a decade or more before average age of AD diagnosis. However, cognitive decline in midlife associated with a gene modulating neuronal response to insult argues that the concept of an AD prodrome includes factors that allow as well as cause AD. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Electron-beam-initiated polymerization of poly(ethylene glycol)-based wood impregnants

The current study demonstrates that methacrylate and acrylate poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) functional oligomers can be effectively impregnated into wood blocks, and cured efficiently to high conversions without catalyst by e-beam radiation, allowing for less susceptibility to leaching, and favorable properties including higher Brinell hardness values. PEG based monomers were chosen because there is a long history of this water-soluble monomer being able to penetrate the cell wall, thus bulking it and decreasing the uptake of water which further protects the wood from fungal attack. Diacrylate, dimethacrylate, and dihydroxyl functional PEG of M(w) 550-575, of concentrations 0, 30, 60, and 100 wt % in water, were vacuum pressure impregnated into Scots Pine blocks of 15 × 25 × 50 mm in an effort to bulk the cell wall. The samples were then irradiated and compared with nonirradiated samples. It was shown by IR, DSC that the acrylate polymers were fully cured to much higher conversions than can be reached with conventional methods. Leaching studies indicated a much lower amount of oligomer loss from the cured vinyl functional PEG chains in comparison to hydroxyl functional PEG indicating a high degree of fastening of the polymer in the wood. The Brinell hardness indicated a significant increase in hardness to hardwood levels in the modified samples compared to the samples of hydroxyl functional PEG and uncured vinyl PEG samples, which actually became softer than the untreated Scots Pine. By monitoring the dimensions of the sample it was found by weight percent gain calculations (WPG %) that water helps to swell the wood structure and allow better access of the oligomers into the cell wall. Further, the cure shrinkage of the wood samples demonstrated infiltration of the oligomers into the cell wall as this was not observed for methyl methacrylate which is well-documented to remain in the lumen. However, dimensional stability of the vinyl polymer modified blocks when placed in water was not observed to the same extent as PEG.     

Automatic boosted flood mapping from satellite data

Numerous algorithms have been proposed to map floods from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) imagery. However, most require human input to succeed, either to specify a threshold value or to manually annotate training data. We introduce a new algorithm based on Adaboost which effectively maps floods without any human input, allowing for a truly rapid and automatic response. The Adaboost algorithm combines multiple thresholds to achieve results comparable to state-of-the-art algorithms which do require human input. We evaluate Adaboost, as well as numerous previously proposed flood mapping algorithms, on multiple MODIS flood images, as well as on hundreds of non-flood MODIS lake images, demonstrating its effectiveness across a wide variety of conditions.     

Planetary LakeLander—A Robotic Sentinel to Monitor Remote Lakes

This field report describes the design and operations of the Planetary LakeLander (PLL) probe and its ground data systems. LakeLander's primary mission is to characterize the physical, chemical, and biological processes occurring in a high‐altitude lake, and how they are being impacted by rapid deglaciation. LakeLander's secondary purpose is to test operation concepts for future exploration of Titan's lakes. The LakeLander probe is a permanently anchored buoy that measures both surface meteorology and water quality parameters in the top 40 m of the water column. The concept of operations calls for the probe to continue collecting and downlinking data through the Andean winter, when the lake is inaccessible; this drives the power system design and forces a strong focus on system reliability, analogous to a space mission. The PLL ground data system provides the central archive of downlinked data. They are structured around a unified data‐sharing web site that includes tools for mapping, data visualization, documentation, and numerical analysis. The web site provides a hub for engaging the science team and enables interdisciplinary collaboration. This report concludes with lessons learned during field deployment and several months of remote operations on the lake. Among the conclusions: (1) the choice to use an off‐the‐shelf profiling system has proven wise; (2) effective maintenance of a long‐lived remote system requires extensive measurement, logging, and display of as many system variables as possible; and (3) the visualization sandbox component of the data‐sharing web site has made numerical analysis of probe data much easier and more accessible to the entire interdisciplinary science team.     

Delivery of Itraconazole from Extruded HPC Films

ABSTRACT

The treatment of onychomycosis by oral delivery is problematic due to the high concentrations required and if available, a topical transcuticular route would be preferred. Towards this end the hot-melt extruded hydroxypropylcellulose based films containing anti-fungal drug itraconazole and α?tocopherol topical treatment for onychomycosis were studied. DSC and X-ray measurements did not show a crystalline itraconazole phase indicating the drug is present in the amorphous state. The rate of itraconazole release trended directly with the degree of film hydration and inversely to the hydroxypropylcellulose molecular weight. This results from a higher degree of crystallinity of the HPC films which also changes the release kinetics from first order to zero order as a more tortuous path is created.