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1H NMR Lanthanideinduced Shift (LIS) investigations of highly flexible molecules : a new approach
(1993)
This article describes recent achievements in the field of micellar polymers, or polysoaps. Taking advantage of zwitterionic model polymers, systematic variations of the molecular architecture have provided an improved understanding of the relationship between the molecular structure of the polymers and their key properties such as surface activity and solubilization capacity. Useful rules are established, which take into account much of the previous data in the literature.
This paper presents a new methodology for examining the phenomenon of subitizing. Subjects were presented with a standard numerosity-detection task but for a range of presentation times to allow Task-Accuracy Functions to be computed for individual subjects. The data appear to show a continuous change in processing for numerosities from 2 to 5 when the data are aggregated across subjects. At the level of individual subjects, there appear to be qualitative shifts in enumeration processing after 3 or 4 objects. The approach used in this experiment may be used to test the claim that subitizing is a distinct enumeration process that can be used for small numbers of objects.
Sequential and coordinative complexity : age-based processing limitations in figural transformations
(1993)
Dimensions of cognitive complexity in figural transformations were examined in the context of adult age differences. Sequential complexity was manipulated through figural transformations of single objects in a multiple-object array. Coordinative complexity was induced through spatial or nonspatial transformations of the entire array. Results confirmed the prediction that age-related slowing is larger in coordinative complexity than in sequential complexity conditions. The effect was stable across 8 sessions (Experiment 1), was obtained when age groups were equated in accuracy with criterion-referenced testing (Experiment 2), and was corroborated by age-differential probabilities of error types (Experiments 1 and 2). A model is proposed attributing age effects under coordinative complexity to 2 factors: (a) basic-level slowing and (b) time-consuming reiterations through the processing sequence due to age-related working memory failures.
Increase in prostanoid formation in rat liver macrophages (Kupffer cells) by human anaphylatoxin C3a
(1993)
Human anaphylatoxin C3a increases glycogenolysis in perfused rat liver. This action is inhibited by prostanoid synthesis inhibitors and prostanoid antagonists. Because prostanoids but not anaphylatoxin C3a can increase glycogenolysis in hepatocytes, it has been proposed that prostanoid formation in nonparenchymal cells represents an important step in the C3a-dependent increase in hepatic glycogenolysis. This study shows that (a) human anaphylatoxin C3a (0.1 to 10 mug/ml) dose-dependently increased prostaglandin D2, thromboxane B, and prostaglandin F2alpha formation in rat liver macrophages (Kupffer cells); (b) the C3a-mediated increase in prostanoid formation was maximal after 2 min and showed tachyphylaxis; and (c) the C3a-elicited prostanoid formation could be inhibited specifically by preincubation of C3a with carboxypeptidase B to remove the essential C-terminal arginine or by preincubation of C3a with Fab fragments of a neutralizing monoclonal antibody. These data support the hypothesis that the C3a-dependent activation of hepatic glycogenolysis is mediated by way of a C3a-induced prostanoid production in Kupffer cells.
This study explores learning-disabled students' academic and psychosocial adjustment as compared to their non-disabled classmates within the mainstream public education system in Greece. A brief description of the special education services in Greece is also presented. The sample of the study consisted of fifth and sixth grade elementary school students in northern Greece. The learning-disabled students were identified based on teachers' evaluation (N=30). The control group consisted of all classmates of these students (N=307). Teacher-, peer and self-ratings were used and achievement data were obtained. The learning-disabled students were found to exhibit various academic and psychosocial difficulties based on the perceptions of all raters. Implications of the findings are discussed.
A model for correct recall and intrusions in cued recall of word lists is introduced. Intrusions are false responses that were correct in an earlier list. The model assumes 3 exclusive states for memory traces after encoding: with a list tag (i.e., with information about list origin), without list tags, and missing. Across lists, a trace can lose its list tag or its content. For retrieval, an optimal strategy of response selection was assumed. Younger and older laboratory-trained mnemonists participated in 2 experiments in which recall of permutations of a single word list across a single set of cues was held constant with individually adjusted presentation times. With correct recall equated to younger adults, older adults were more susceptible to intrusions. Age differences were restricted to model parameters estimating the probability of generation of list tags. Alternative accounts of age differences in context memory are discussed.
Past research suggests that age differences in measures of cognitive speed contribute to differences in intellectual functioning between young and old adults. To investigate whether speed also predicts age-related differences in intellectual performance beyond age 70 years, tests indicating 5 intellectual abilities—speed, reasoning, memory, knowledge, and fluency—were administered to a close-to-representative, age-stratified sample of old and very old adults. Age trends of all 5 abilities were well described by a negative linear function. The speed-mediated effect of age fully explained the relationship between age and both the common and the specific variance of the other 4 abilities. Results offer strong support for the speed hypothesis of old age cognitive decline but need to be qualified by further research on the reasons underlying age differences in measures of speed.
In perfused rat livers, infusion of prostaglandin F₂α (PGF₂α) or noradrenaline increased glucose and lactate output and reduced flow. Glucagon increased glucose output and decreased lactate output without influence on flow. Infusion of phorbol 13-myristate 14-acetate (PMA) for 20 min prior to these stimuli strongly inhibited the metabolic and hemodynamic effects of noradrenaline, reduced the metabolic actions of PGF₂α but did not alter the effects of glucagon. In isolated rat hepatocytes PGF₂α, noradrenaline and glucagon activated glycogen phosphorylase but only PGF₂α and noradrenaline increased intracellular inositol 1,4,5-1risphosphalc (InsP₃). The noradrenaline- or PGF₂α-elicited activation of glycogen phosphorylase and increase in InsP₃ were largely reduced after preincubation of the cells for 10 min with PMA, whereas the glucagon-mediated enzyme activation was not affected. In contra\t to PMA, the phorbol ester 4a-phorbol 13,14-didecanoate. which does not activate protein kinase C, did not attenuate the PGF₂α- and noradrenaline-elicited stimulation of glucose output, glycogen phosphorylase and InsP, formation. Stimulation of InsP₃ formation by AlF₄⁻, which activates phospholipase C independently of the receptor, was not attenuated by prior incubation with PMA. Plasma membranes purified from isolated hepatocytes had both a high-capacity, low-affinity and a low-capacity, high-affinity binding site for PGF₂α. The Kd of the high-capacity, low-affinity binding site was close to the concentration of PGF₂α that increased glycogen phosphorylase activity halfmaximally. Binding to the high-capacity, low-affinity binding site was enhanced by guanosine 5'- 0-(3-thio)triphosphate (GTP[S]). This high-capacity, low-affinity site might thus represent the receptor. The Bmax and Kd of the high-capacity site, as well as the enhancement by GTP[S] of PGF₂α binding to this site, remained unaffected by PMA pretreatment. It is concluded that, in hepatocytes, activation of protein kinase C by PMA interrupted the InsP₃-mediated signal pathway from PGF₂α via a PGF₂α receptor and phospholipase C to glycogen phosphorylase at a point distal of the receptor prior to phospholipase C.
Prostaglandin (PG)F₂α has previously been shown to increase glucose output from perfused livers and isolated hepatocytes, where it stimulated glycogen phosphorylase via an inositol-trisphosphatedependent signal pathway. In this study, PGF₂α binding sites on hepatocyte plasma membranes, that might represent the putative receptor, were characterized. Binding studies could not be performed with intact hepatocytes, because PGF₂α accumulated within the cells even at 4°C. The intracellular accumulation was an order of magnitude higher than binding to plasma membranes. Purified hepatocyte plasma membranes had a high-affinity/low-capacity and a low-affinity/highcapacity binding'site for PGF₂α. The respective binding constants for the high-affinity site were Kd = 3 nM and Bmax = 6 fmol/mg membrane protein, and for the low-affinity site Kd = 426 nM and Bmax = 245 fmol/mg membrane protein. Specific PGF₂α binding to the low-affinity site, but not to the high-affinity site, could be enhanced most potently by GTP[γS] followed by GDP[ϐS] and GTP, but not by ATP[γS] or GMP. PGF₂α competed most potently with [³H]PGF₂α for specific binding to hepatocyte plasma membranes, followed by PGD₂ and PGE₂. Since the low-affinity PGF₂α-binding site had a Kd in the concentration range in which PG had previously been shown to be half-maximally active, and since this binding site showed a sensitivity to GTP, it is concluded that it might represent the receptor involved in the PGF₂α signal chain in hepatocytes. A biological function of the high-affinity site is currently not known.
Prostaglandin E₂ has been reported both to stimulate glycogen-phosphorylase activity (glycogenolytic effect) and to inhibit the glucagon-stimulated glycogen-phosphorylase activity (antiglycogenolytic effect) in rat hepatocytes. It was the purpose of this study to resolve this apparent contradiction and to characterize the signalling pathways and receptor subtypes involved in the opposing prostaglandin E₂ actions. Prostaglandin E₂ (10 μM) increased glucose output, glycogen-phosphorylase activity and inositol trisphosphate formation in hepatocyte cell culture andor suspension. In the same systems, prostaglandin E₂ decreased the glucagon-stimulated (1 nM) glycogen-phosphorylase activity and cAMP formation. The signalling pathway leading to the glycogenolytic effect of PGE₂ was interrupted by incubation of the hepatocytes with 4P-phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (100 nM) for 10 min, while the antiglycogenolytic effect of prostaglandin E₂ was not attenuated. The signalling pathway leading to the antiglycogenolytic effect of prostaglandin E₂ was interrupted by an incubation of cultured hepatocytes with pertussis toxin (100 ng/ml) for 18 h, whereas the glycogenolytic effect of prostaglandin E₂ was enhanced. The EP₁/EP₃ prostaglandin-E₂-receptor-specific prostaglandin E₂ analogue Sulproston had a stronger glycogenolytic potency than the EP₃ prostaglandin-E₂-receptor-specific prostaglandin E₂ analogue Misoprostol. The antiglycogenolytic potency of both agonists was equal. It is concluded that the glycogenolytic and the antiglycogenolytic effects of prostaglandin E₂ are mediated via different signalling pathways in hepatocytes possibly involving EP₁ and EP₃ prostaglandin E₂ receptors, respectively.
Rainfall erosivities as defined by the R factor from the universal soil loss equation were determined for all events during a two-year period at the station La Cuenca in western Amazonia. Three methods based on a power relationship between rainfall amount and erosivity were then applied to estimate event and daily rainfall erosivities from the respective rainfall amounts. A test of the resulting regression equations against an independent data set proved all three methods equally adequate in predicting rainfall erosivity from daily rainfall amount. We recommend the Richardson model for testing in the Amazon Basin, and its use with the coefficient from La Cuenca in western Amazonia.
Excerpt: The writings from the thirteenth century called by Gershom Scholem the "Writings of the 'lyyun circle" are one of the most intriguing chapters of early kabbalah - this I need not to elaborate on as it is a well known fact to anyone whoever had read these texts or the literature about them. When reading these texts, one gets the impression as if the authors had at hand a box full of terms and phrases into which everybody could just stick his hand and take terms and phrases out of it in order to arrange them according to his own taste, disregarding the meaning they have in the writings of his fellow kabbalists. The result was, that we now have before us a large number of varying mosaic pictures in which we detect again and again the same mosaic pebbles, however composed differently.
This article presents results from a meta-analysis of studies on the relation between subject-matter-related interest and school achievement. For the time period between 1965 and 1990 a total of 21 studies reporting 127 independent correlations (i. e., correlations based on independent samples) were identified. For the overall relation between interestand achievement a mean correlation of .30 was found. Male students exhibited significantly higher interest-achievement correlations than female students. In addition, significant differences among school subjects were observed. Grade level, however, did not produce a significant moderator effect. Finally, the results are discussed on the basis of theories of interest and methodological considerations.
Bibliographie critique
(1993)
My analysis of question-word questions in conversational question-answer sequences results in the decomposition of the conversational question into three systems of constitutive cues, which signal and contextualize the particular activity type in conversational interaction: (1) syntactic structure, (2) semantic relation to prior turn, and (3) prosody. These components are used and combined by interlocutors to distinguish between different activity types which (4) sequentially implicate different types of answers by the recipient in the next turn. Prosody is only one cooccurring cue, but in some cases it is the only distinctive one. It is shown that prosody, and in particular intonation, cannot be determined or even systematically related to syntactic sentence structure type or other sentence-grammatical principles, as most former and current theories of intonation postulate. Instead, prosody is an independent, autonomous signalling system, which is used as a contextualization device for the constitution of interactively relevant activity types in conversation.
A set of novel zwitterionic side-chain polyacrylates and polymethacrylates is studied by X-ray scattering. The structural order both in the short-range and long-range scale is investigated. The influence of the polymer backbone, of different locations of the ionic groups in isomeric polymers, of bound water and of added inorganic salts on the bulk structures is studied, and the observed rearrangements are analysed.
Technical and physical systems, especially electronic circuits, are frequently modeled as a system of differential and nonlinear implicit equations. In the literature such systems of equations are called differentialalgebraic equations (DAEs). It turns out that the numerical and analytical properties of a DAE depend on an integer called the index of the problem. For example, the well-known BDF method of Gear can be applied, in general, to a DAE only if the index does not exceed one. In this paper we give a geometric interpretation of higherindex DAEs and indicate problems arising in connection with such DAEs by means of several examples.
Langmuir-Blodgett(LB) multilayers were prepared from disc-shaped multiyne mesogens based on amphiphilic alkyl pentakis(aryl-ethynyl)benzene ethers. The two compounds used are characterized by five hydrophobic flexible chains and one hydrophilic substituent at the terminal position of the alkoxy chain. The LB films were analysed by X-ray scattering and spectroscopic measurements. An edge-on arrangement of the two discotic pentaalkynes within Y-type bilayers with a different packing density proved to be possible for the LB films of both compounds.
The possibilities and limits of structure refinement of Langmuir-Blodgett films by means of symmetrical reflection of X- rays are described using the example of a stearic acid multilayer. Three different techniques for the determiantion of the electron density profile from reflectivity data are compared; a Fourier method, a Patterson method, and model calculations. The important role of the a priori information for finding the besft structure model is outlined.
Combining issues of "girl-suited" science teaching, STS and constructivism in a physics textbook
(1992)
Models of chaotic inflation
(1992)
Factorization of operator ideals and boundes sets in tensor products of locally convex spaces
(1992)
Orthopyroxenes of a high temperature protomylonite of the Ivrea Zone, Northern Italy show twin like polysynthetic lamellae parallel to {210} of the hypersthene host. The transformation is caused by plastic deformation under high metamorphic conditions which has resulted in dynamic recrystallization of pyroxene and plagioclase. The lamellae consist of clinohypersthene. The twin plane and the lamellar clino-orthoinversion of hypersthene due to natural deformation have not been described hitherto.
The topography of first-order catchments in a region of western Amazonia was found to exhibit distinctive, recurrent features: a steep, straight lower side slope, a flat or nearly flat terrace at an intermediate elevation between valley floor and interfluve, and an upper side slope connecting interfluve and intermediate terrace. A detailed survey of soil-saturated hydraulic conductivity (K sat)-depth relationships, involving 740 undisturbed soil cores, was conducted in a 0.75-ha first-order catchment. The sampling approach was stratified with respect to the above slope units. Exploratory data analysis suggested fourth-root transformation of batches from the 0–0.1 m depth interval, log transformation of batches from the subsequent 0.1 m depth increments, and the use of robust estimators of location and scale. The K sat of the steep lower side slope decreased from 46 to 0.1 mm/h over the overall sampling depth of 0.4 m. The corresponding decrease was from 46 to 0.1 mm/h on the intermediate terrace, from 335 to 0.01 mm/h on the upper side slope, and from 550 to 0.015 mm/h on the interfluve. A depthwise comparison of these slope units led to the formulation of several hypotheses concerning the link between K sat and topography.
4-Phenylphenoxazinones were isolated after biomimetic oxidation, using diphenoloxidases of insect cuticle, mushroom tyrosinase, or after autoxidation of N-acetyldopamine (Image ) in the presence of β-alanine, β-alanine methyl ester or N-acetyl-L-lysine. They are formed presumably by addition of 2-aminoalkyl-5-alkylphenols to the o-quinone of biphenyltetrol which, in turn, arises from oxidative coupling of. The structures of present the first examples for the assembly of reasonably stable intermediates in the rather complex process of chemical modifications of aliphatic amino acid residues by o-quinones.
Earlier testing-the-limits research on age differences in cognitive plasticity of a memory skill was extended by 18 additional assessment and training sessions to explore whether older adults were able to catch up with additional practice and improved training conditions. The focus was on the method of loci, which requires mental imagination to encode and retrieve lists of words from memory in serial order. Of the original 37 subjects, 35 (16 young, ranging from 20 to 30 years of age, and 19 older adults, ranging from 66 to 80 years of age) participated in the follow-up study. Older adults showed sizable performance deficits when compared with young adults and tested for limits of reserve capacity. The negative age difference was substantial, resistant to extensive practice, and applied to all subjects studied. The primary origin for this negative age difference may be a loss in the production and use of mental imagination for operations of the mind.
Using a testing-the-limits paradigm, the authors investigated the modulation (attenuation) o f negative adult age differences in imagery-based memory performance as a function of professional expertise. Six older graphic designers, 6 normal older adults, 6 younger graphic design students, and 6 normal younger students participated in a 19-session program with a cued-recall variant of the Method of Loci. Older graphic designers attained higher levels o f mnemonic performance than normal older adults but were not able to reach younger adults' level of performance; a perfect separation of age groups was achieved. Spatial visualization was a good predictor of mnemonic performance. Results suggest that negative adult age differences in imagery-based memory are attenuated but not eliminated by the advantages associated with criterion-relevant ability (talent) and experience.
Mixed monolayers and Langmuir-Blodgett multilayers of functional low molecular weight guest compounds, especially nonlinear optical (NLO) dyes, within the matrix of an amphotropic spacer polymer have been prepared. The polymer matrix enabled the transfer of guest compounds not capable of self-organizing at the air-water interface by themselves. The structure of the LB multilayers and the transfer process were studied by small angle X-ray scattering and UV-visible spectroscopy. Good NLO coefficients were found in the mixed films.
Several types of insect cuticle contain enzymes catalyzing the formation ofof adducts between N-acetyldopamine (NADA) and N-acetylhistidine (NAH). Two such adducts, NAH-NADA-I and NAH NADA-II, have been isolated and their structures determined. In one of the adducts the link connecting the two residues occurs between the I-position (ß-position) in the NADA side chain and the 1-N atom (τ-N) in the imidazole ring of histidine. Diphenoloxidase activity alone is not sufficient for formation of this adduct, whereas extracts containing both diphenoloxidase and o-quinone-p-quinone methide isomerase activities catalyze the coupling reaction. The adduct consists of a mixture of two diastereomers and they are presumably formed by spontaneous reaction between enzymatically produced NADA-p-quinone methide and N-acetylhistidine. The other adduct has been identified as a ring addition product of N-acetylhistidine and NADA. In contrast to the former adduct it can be formed by incubation of the two substrates with mushroom tyrosinase alone. An adduct between N-acetylhistidine and the benzodioxan-type NADA-dimer is produced in vitro, when the N-acetylhistidine-NADA adduct is incubated with NADA and locust cuticle containing a 1,2-dehydro-NADA generating enzyme system. Trimeric NADA-polymerization products of the substituted benzodioxan-type have been obtained from in vivo sclerotized locust cuticle, confirming the ability of cuticle to produce NADA-oligomers. The results indicate that some insect cuticles contain enzymes promoting linkage of oxidized NADA to histidine residues. It is suggested that histidine residues in the cuticular proteins can serve as acceptors for oxidized NADA and that further addition of NADA-residues to the phenolic groups of bound NADA can occur, resulting in formation of protein-linked NADA-oligomers. The coupling reactions identified may be an important step in natural cuticular sclerotization.
School performance and adjustment of Greek remigrant students in the schools of their home country
(1992)
This study explores the adjustment of Greek remigrant students in Greek public schools after their families' return to Greece from the Federal Republic of Germany. Teacher and self-rating instruments were used, and achievement and language competence data were obtained. The sample consisted of 13- to 15-year-old junior high school students in northern Greece. The remigrant students were divided into two groups ("early return" and "late return"), based on the year of return to Greece. The control group consisted of all the local classmates of these students. Remigrant students (mainly late return) were found to experience difficulties mainly in the language/learning domain and less in the interpersonal and intrapersonal behavior domains.
The molecular packing and spatial correlations of two isomeric zwitterionic polymethacrylates and one polyacrylate analog are studied by means of X-ray analysis and conformational calculations. The analysis of the correlation functions and density distribution profiles suggest a double-layered molecular packing which is discussed for the three polymers investigated, with respect to their different chemical structures. Whereas the zwitterionic polymethacrylates studied exhibit liquid-like short-range order, the polyacrylate analog exhibits an ordered double-layered superstructure.
Content: 1 Persons and Situations: Cornerstones of Modern Personality Psychology 2 The Issue of Consistency in Personality:Sixty Years of Controversy 3 In Defence of Traits: New (and Revived) Perspectives 4 Modern Interactionism: An Alternative Framework for Personality Research 5 Implementing the Interactionist Programme:Three Exemplary Areas of Research 6 Improving Personality Measurement:The Nomothetic Road to the Study of Consistency 7 Personality Psychology is about Individuals:Rediscovering the Idiographic Legacy 8 The Role of the Situation in Personality Research 9 Personality Psychology in the Nineties: An Outlook
Content: Synopsis The Attitudes toward Rape Victims Scale: Psychometric Data from 14 Countries Scale Construction and Validation - Study One: Preliminary Analyses - Study Two: Test-Retest Reliability - Study Three: Construct Validity Cross-cultural Extensions - United States - United Kingdom - Germany - New Zealand - Canada - West Indies - Israel - Turkey - India - Hong Kong - Malaysia - Zimbabwe - Mexico - Metric Equivalence Discussion
Content: Introduction: Do the Arts Really Matter? Aesthetic Cognition and Human Development The Significance of Arts in Everyday Life: Evidence from Case StudiesArts and Quality of Experience: A Systematic Analysis The Conditions of Optimal Experience The Representation of Experience in Personality Consequences for Teaching the Arts
Content Social stereotypes and responsibility attributions to victims of rape Atributing responsibillty to rape victims: a German study Rape myth acceptance and responsibility judgments: a British study Police officers' definitions of rape A study on cognitive prototypes of rape Conclusion References
Personality and language
(1992)
The use of preformed polymers for the preparation of Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) multilayers is reviewed. Principles for polymer self-organization are outlined and the appropriate molecular designs are discussed. Recent developments in the different classes of polymers for LB multilayers are presented, and their outstanding properties highlighted.
1) During orthograde perfusion of rat liver human anaphylatoxin C3a caused an increase in glucose and lactate output and reduction of flow. These effects could be enhanced nearly twofold by co-infusion of the carboxypeptidase inhibitor MERGETPA, which reduced inactivation of C3a to C3adesArg. 2) During retrograde perfusion C3a caused a two- to threefold larger increase in glucose and lactate output and reduction of flow than in orthograde perfusions. These actions tended to be slightly enhanced by MERGETPA. 3) The elimination of C3a plus C3adesArg immunoreactivity during a single liver passage was around 67%, irrespective of the perfusion direction and the presence of the carboxypeptidase inhibitor MERGETPA; however, less C3adesArg and more intact C3a appeared in the perfusate in the presence of MERGETPA in orthograde and retrogade perfusions It is concluded that rat liver inactivated human anaphylatoxin C3a by conversion to C3adesArg and moreover eliminated it by an additional process. The inactivation to C3adesArg seemed to be located predominantly in the proximal periportal region of the liver sinusoid, since C3a was less effective in orthograde perfusions, when C3a first passed the proximal periportal region before reaching the predominant mass of parenchyma as its site of action, than in retrograde perfusions, when it first passed the perivenous area. These data may be evidence for a periportal scavenger mechanism, by which the liver protects itself from systemically released mediators of inflammation that interfere with the local regulation of liver metabolism and hemodynamics.
Rat serum, in which the complement sytem had been activated by incubation with zymosan, increased the glucose and lactate output, and reduced and redistributed the flow in isolated perfused rat liver clearly more than the control serum. Heat inactivation of the rat serum prior to zymosan incubation abolished this difference. Metabolic and hemodynamic alterations caused by the activated serum were dose dependent. They were almost completely inhibited by the cyclooxygenase inhibitor indomethacin and by the thromboxane antagonist 4-[2-(4-chlorobenzenesulfonamide)-ethyl]-benzene-acetica cid (BM 13505), but clearly less efficiently by the 5’-lipoxygenase inhibitor nordihydroguaiaretic acid and the leukotriene antagonist N-{3-[3-(4-acetyl-3-hydroxy-2-propyl-phenoxy)-propoxy]-4-chlorine-6-methyl-phenyl}-1H-tetrazole-5-carboxamide sodium salt (CGP 35949 B). Control serum and to a much larger extent complement-activated serum, caused an overflow of thromboxane B₂ and prostaglandin F₂α into the hepatic vein. It is concluded that the activated complement system of rat serum can influence liver metabolism and hemodynamics via release from nonparenchymal liver cells of thromboxane and prostaglandins, the latter of which can in turn act on the parenchymal cells.
Chemical Physics
(1991)
We investigated the role of training-induced knowledge Schemas and encoding time on adult age differences in recall. High-plausible (schema coherent) words were recalled better than lowplausible (schema discrepant) words in both age groups. This difference was larger for old-adults than for young adults for presentation times ranging from 3 s to 11 s per word. After equating participants in overall recall (i.e., at 50% correct) by dynamic adjustment of presentation time, old adults again showed a stronger plausibility effect than young adults when recall was above criterion. In a second experiment with self-paced encoding, old adults used more time than young adults only for low-plausible pairs, yet they still remembered fewer of them. In a third experiment, both age groups preferred to imagine high- rather than low-plausible words, but this effect was more pronounced in old adults. The results indicate that, compared with young adults, old adults find it particularly difficult to form elaborative mental images of schema-discrepant information under a wide variety of time constraints during encoding. Results are discussed in relation to explanations based on age-related mental slowing.
Elderly adults (N = 116; average age = 73 years) were randomly assigned to one of four treatment groups varying in the amount of training and testing on fluid intelligence tests. They were compared before and after treatment on self-efficacy and utility beliefs for intelligence tests and everyday competence. Although both ability training and extended retest practice resulted in significant gains in objective test performance (Baltes, Kliegl, & Dittmann-Kohli, 1988), only ability training resulted in positive changes in self-efficacy. However, these changes were restricted to testrelated self-efficacy. Training had no impact on perceived utility or on everyday self-efficacy beliefs. Implications of the results are discussed with regard to interventions to increase intellectual self-efficacy in elderly persons.
An existence and uniqueness theory is developed for general nonlinear and nonautonomous differential-algebraic equations (DAEs) by exploiting their underlying differential-geometric structure. A DAE is called regular if there is a unique nonautonomous vector field such that the solutions of the DAE and the solutions of the vector field are in one-to-one correspondence. Sufficient conditions for regularity of a DAE are derived in terms of constrained manifolds. Based on this differential-geometric characterization, existence and uniqueness results are stated for regular DAEs. Furthermore, our not ons are compared with techniques frequently used in the literature such as index and solvability. The results are illustrated in detail by means of a simple circuit example.
Cationic and zwitterionic polymerizable surfactants bearing tri- and tetraethyleneglycol spacer groups between the polymerizable moiety and the surfactant structure were prepared and polymerized. Monomers and polymers were investigated with respect to their aggregation behavior in aqueous systems and compared to analogous monomers and polymers lacking spacer groups. In the case of the monomeric surfactants, the spacer groups depress both the Kraffttemperature and the critical micelle concentration. the area occupied per molecule at the air-water interface is substantially enlarged by the spacers, whereas the depression of surface tension is nearly constant. Although the monomers with and without spacers are true surfactants, all the polymers are water-insoluble, but form monomolecular layers at the air-water interface. In analogy to the monomer behavior, the incorporation of the spacer groups increases the area occupied per repeat unit at the air-water interface substantially, but hardly affects the surface activity.
Recent research related to the concept of interest is reviewed. It is argued that current constructs of motivation fail to include crucial aspects of the meaning of interest emphasized by classical American and German educational theorists. In contrast with many contemporary concepts (e.g., intrinsic learning orientation), interest is defined as a content-specific motivational characteristic composed of intrinsic feeling-related and value-related valences. Results from a number of studies are presented that indicate the importance of interest for the depth of text comprehension, the use of learning strategies, and the quality of the emotional experience while learning. The implications of these results and possible directions for future research are discussed.
The study investigates police officers' definitions of different rape situations. On the basis of the concept of 'cognitive prototypes' a methodology is developed which elicits consensual feature lists describing six rape situations: the typical, i.e. most common rape, the credible, dubious, and false rape complaints as weil as the rape experiences that are particularly hard vs. relatively easy for the victim to cope with. Qualitative analysis of the data allows the identification of the characteristic features defining the prototype of each rape situation, as weil as comparisons between the situations in terms of their common and distinctive features. It is shown that police officers, while sharing some of the widely held stereotypes about rape, generally perceive rape as a serious crime with long-term negative consequences for the victim. The quantitative analysis of prototype similarity between the six situations corroborates this conclusion by demonstrating a high similarity between the prototypes of the typical and the credible rape situation: In addition, subjects' general attitude towards rape victims is measured to compare the prototypes provided by respondents holding a positive vs. negative attitude towards rape victims. Findings for the two groups, however, reveal more similarities than differences in their descriptions of rape prototypes. The paper concludes with a discussion of the feasibility of the prototype approach presented in this study as a strategy for investigating implicit or common-sense theories of rape.
The chapter presents a social psychological approach to the study of rape and sexual assault. Two issues are at the core of this approach: identifying the critical variables that affect attributions of responsibility to victims of rape. and exploring people's subjective definitions of rape, which may differ markedly from legal definitions. Following a review of the American evidence, a series of studies conductcd in two European countries is presented to address these issues.
The subject of this paper is the relation of differential-algebraic equations (DAEs) to vector fields on manifolds. For that reason, we introduce the notion of a regular DAE as a DAE to which a vector field uniquely corresponds. Furthermore, a technique is described which yields a family of manifolds for a given DAE. This socalled family of constraint manifolds allows in turn the formulation of sufficient conditions for the regularity of a DAE. and the definition of the index of a regular DAE. We also state a method for the reduction of higher-index DAEs to lowsr-index ones that can be solved without introducing additional constants of integration. Finally, the notion of realizability of a given vector field by a regular DAE is introduced, and it is shown that any vector field can be realized by a regular DAE. Throughout this paper the problem of path-tracing is discussed as an illustration of the mathematical phenomena.
The focus of this study was on developmental reserve capacity in old age as revealed by testing-thelimits. We examined (a) the time course of training-related magnification of age differences in serial word recall and (b) predictability of training gains by pretest individual differences in cognitive abilities. In 20 sessions, young (n = 18) and old (n = 19) adults were taught to recall lists of 30 words using the Method of Loci. Age differences were magnified early in practice at long presentation times (20 s and 15 s per word) and later at 5 s per word. Regression of posttraining scores on various pretraining abilities revealed significant effects of digit symbol substitution. Also, consistent with the assumption of age-related decline in developmental reserve capacity, the unique variance in serial word recall associated with age group became more salient as the training unfolded.