The greening of materials science and engineering

The field of materials science and engineering is advancing at a revolutionary pace. It is now generally recognized as being among the key emerging technological fields propelling our world societies into the twenty-first century. The driving forces for this revolutionary pace are at once social, economic, political, and technological. For example, relatively recent changes in United States federal policies in environmental control, hazardous waste management, and energy conservation along with heightened international trade competition have resulted in major changes in material processing and use patterns. These changing patterns are creating new requirements for material developments, substitutions, and associated processes. This paper traces the emergence of materials policy and technological developments through four sub-periods of history: the birth and development of engineering in the United States (1825–1900), the evolution of a national research infrastructure (1900–1945), the evolution of a national science policy (1945–1973), and the intensification of global interdependency (1973-present). Future trends in materials developments and future policy requirements are outlined. Technical Resources, of TRW, Inc., began his professional career in 1954 as a research metallurgist and reactor project engineer with General Electric Co. at the Hanford Atomic Products Operation in Richland, WA. In 1965 he joined Battelle Memorial Institute as a manager of the metallurgy research department and three years later became manager of the fuels and materials department. In 1970 Dr. Bement joined the faculty of Massachusetts Institute of Technology as professor of nuclear materials. From 1974 to 1976 he served as a member of the U.S.-U.S.S.R. Bilateral Exchange Program in Magnetohydrodynamics and was the organizer and principal investigator of the M.I.T. Fusion Technology Program. In 1976 Dr. Bement became Director of the Materials Sciences Office of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and in 1979 was appointed Deputy Under-Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. Dr. Bement has co-authored one book, edited three books, and authored over 90 articles on materials science, energy, and defense technology. He is a Fellow of the American Nuclear Society, the American Society for Metals, and the American Institute of Chemists. In addition, he is a member of the American Institute for Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers, and the American Society for Testing and Materials. He has received outstanding achievement awards from the Colorado Engineering Council in 1954, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in 1977, and the Colorado School of Mines in 1984. In 1980 he was awarded the Distinguished Civilian Service Medal by the Secretary of Defense. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering. Dr. Bement is chairman of the National Materials Advisory Board and a member of the Board of Army Science and Technology, the Board on Engineering Sciences, the Board on Assessment of National Bureau of Standards Programs, and the Board on Science and Technology for International Development of the National Research Council. Dr. Bement received an Engineer of Metallurgy (E. Met.) degree in 1954 from the Colorado School of Mines. He received an M.S. in Metallurgical Engineering from the University of Idaho in 1959, and a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 1963. He is a Lt. Colonel (ret.) in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Dr. Bement and his family reside in Mayfield Village, OH.     

Impairment of long-term associative memory in aging snails (Lymnaea stagnalis).

Age-dependent impairment in learning and memory functions occurs in many animal species, including humans. Although cell death contributes to age-related cognitive impairment in pathological forms of aging, learning and memory deficiencies develop with age even without substantial cell death. The molecular and cellular basis of this biological aging process is not well understood but seems to involve a decline in the aging brain's capacity for experience-dependent plasticity. To aid in resolving this issue, we used a simple snail appetitive classical conditioning paradigm in which the underlying molecular, cellular, and neural network functions can be directly linked to age-associated learning and memory performance (i.e., the Lymnaea stagnalis feeding system). Our results indicate that age does not affect the acquisition of appetitive memory but that retention and/or consolidation of long-term memory become progressively impaired with advancing age. The latter phenomenon correlates with declining electrophysiological excitability in key neurons controlling the feeding behavior. Together, these results present the Lymnaea feeding system as a powerful paradigm for investigations of cellular and molecular foundations of biological aging in the brain. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differentiation of the concepts of luck and skill.

20 Ss from each grade level (kindergarten, Grades 2, 4, 6, and 8) were presented a luck (figures to be matched with a standard were not visible but were on the underside of cards) and a skill (figures were visible) version of a task using items from the Matching Familiar Figures Test. Questioning Ss about the performance of hypothetical others on these tasks revealed 4 levels of differentiation of luck and skill. The least mature Ss focused on the visual complexity of tasks rather than on the fact that the luck task permitted only guessing. On this basis, they expected luck outcomes to reflect effort and considered the luck task to require less effort than the skill task. Only the most mature Ss clearly understood that effort could not affect outcomes on the luck task and selectively attributed skill outcomes to effort and luck outcomes to luck. The most mature Ss also spent less time than did less mature Ss in the face of failure on luck tasks, but spent more time on skill tasks. Findings of age-related differences in the differentiation of skill (effort and ability) and luck and of associated differences in behavior make the analysis of the development of achievement-related cognition and behavior more complete. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The assessment of menstrual synchrony: Comment on Weller and Weller (1997).

A. Weller and L. Weller (see record 1997-06365-004) claimed to report "the definitive study of menstrual synchrony" (p. 148). To allow for cycle variability, they used the following criterion for synchrony: It occurred in 2 out of 3 months. The underlying assumption of the state of menstrual synchrony is that cycle length variability is minimal. The present article uses a random selection of cycle lengths from a distribution described by R. F. Vollman (1977) to illustrate how variable cycle lengths cause a fluctuation from synchrony to asynchrony. A. Weller and L. Weller's study is not, therefore, conclusive, and future studies of menstrual synchrony should include an assessment of cycle variability as well as onset difference. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Learning Disabilities and Psychic Conflict: A Psychoanalytic Casebook.

Review of book: Learning Disabilities and Psychic Conflict: A Psychoanalytic Casebook by Arden Aibel Rothstein and Jules Glenn, Madison, NJ: International Universities Press, 1999, 504 pp. Reviewed by Lucy M. Zabarenko. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The rise in IQ scores.

Responds to the U. Neisser et al (see record 83-26553) review of the rise in IQ test scores, arguing that none of the offered explanations sufficiently account for the extent of increase in scores. The collective memory hypothesis is offered as a possible alternative explanation. The hypothesis' applicability in human learning is addressed, including discussion of studies showing its ability to be tested empirically. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Preparing for internship: Tips for the prospective applicant.

This article's major objective is to effectively prepare the graduate student in psychology for the internship application process by providing critical and relevant information. Preparation begins early on in one's graduate career and usually involves the following steps: (a) establishing mentoring relationships, (b) preparing an application portfolio, (c) collecting information, (d) applying, (e) interviewing, (f ) ranking the selected agencies, and (g) responding on selection day. Information is also provided on how to use the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral Internship Centers (APPIC) Clearinghouse. Finally, a brief section is devoted to the process of choosing a non-APPIC site. Advance preparation can make this entire process easier and increase a student's chance of finding a suitable predoctoral internship in psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Multiple G1 regulatory elements control the androgen-dependent proliferation of prostatic carcinoma cells

Prostatic epithelial cells and most primary prostate tumors are dependent on androgen for growth, but how androgen regulates cellular proliferation remains unsolved. Using poorly understood mechanisms, recurrent tumor cells evade the androgen requirement. We utilized androgen-dependent prostatic tumor cells to demonstrate that androgen exerts its effect on the cell cycle by influencing specific aspects of G1-S progression. Androgen depletion of these cells results in early G1 arrest, characterized by reduced cyclin-dependent kinase activity, and underphosphorylated retinoblastoma tumor suppressor protein (RB). The reduction in kinase activity was partially attributed to reduction of specific G1 cyclins and alternate regulation of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors. Using this information, we developed a reliable assay to assess the ability of specific G1 regulatory proteins to circumvent these controls and promote androgen-independent growth. As expected, inactivation of RB was required for progression through the cell cycle. Surprisingly, overexpression of G1 cyclins, which drives RB phosphorylation, was insufficient to promote androgen-independent cell cycle progression. Introduction of viral oncoproteins did promote G1-S progression in the absence of androgen, dependent on their ability to sequester RB and related proteins. These results provide the first evidence that multiple elements governing the G1-S transition dictate androgen-dependent growth, and the formation of androgen-independent prostatic tumors may be because of misregulation of these processes.     

A developmental study of the cognitive basis of performance impairment after failure.

Tested the egotism hypothesis against the learned-helplessness hypothesis while considering developmental variation in reasoning about ability, using 30 male and 30 female 2nd graders and 30 male and 30 female 6th graders. The egotism hypothesis states that performance impairment after failure follows from attempts to avoid appearing low in ability. The learned-helplessness hypothesis states that this performance impairment occurs as a result of the perception of noncontingency. Ss were assigned either solvable or unsolvable matching-familiar-figures task items. Performance on a subsequent anagram task constituted the dependent measure. Results show that performance deficits on anagrams following failure on the matching-familiar-figures task appeared for 6th graders only. These deficits occurred when the anagrams were purported to be of moderate normative difficulty but not when they were said to be of high difficulty. Moreover, performance deficits were apparent only in those 6th graders who had a mature conception of ability. Males tended to increase performance when task conditions were unfavorable; females, especially younger ones, faced with this combination of adverse conditions showed substantial declines in performance. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of a zirconium strength differential on cladding collapse predictions

An investigation was made into the occurrence of a strength differential in the Zircaloy cladding of LWR fuels, and into the effect such a strength differential can have on the analytical predictions of cladding creep collapse during fuel densification. The strength differential, or SD, refers to the difference in the compressive and tensile yield strengths of a material. It was concluded that an SD in Zircaloy cladding can have a significant effect on cladding collapse predictions; inclusion of SD considerations in cladding creep down analysis can increase predicted collapse times by a factor of two.