Making inferences about the location of hidden food: Social dog, causal ape.

Domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) and great apes from the genus Pan were tested on a series of object choice tasks. In each task, the location of hidden food was indicated for subjects by some kind of communicative, behavioral, or physical cue. On the basis of differences in the ecologies of these 2 genera, as well as on previous research, the authors hypothesized that dogs should be especially skillful in using human communicative cues such as the pointing gesture, whereas apes should be especially skillful in using physical, causal cues such as food in a cup making noise when it is shaken. The overall pattern of performance by the 2 genera strongly supported this social-dog, causal-ape hypothesis. This result is discussed in terms of apes' adaptations for complex, extractive foraging and dogs' adaptations, during the domestication process, for cooperative communication with humans. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Design of Extractive Reaction Systems

Product selectivity and yield in chemical reactions can be limited by side product formation or low conversions due to equilibrium limitations. Extractive reaction systems (ERS) employ an in situ liquid‐liquid extraction that separates the product from the reaction phase to overcome these difficulties. The design of ERS requires a broad knowledge of the discipline of process intensification and extraction and reaction engineering. Furthermore, specific knowledge about the interplay of reaction and extraction phenomena is unique to ERS. This review gives an overview of the design of ERS and enables their application to any suitable reaction.     

Progress in the metallisation of n-type multicrystalline silicon solar cells

A study on the optimisation of front contacts of n-type multicrystalline silicon solar cells is presented. In this study the same cell processing was applied to two types of wafers: electronic grade (EG-Si) and metallurgic grade (MG-Si) silicon. The contact firing temperature was optimised, by measuring the contact resistivity of the front and back contacts for different firing temperatures. The front contacts were improved by deposing silver using an electrochemical process. The solar cells were characterised before and after the silver deposition. For all cells processed the line resistance was reduced by over 90% after the silver deposition. After the contact improvement, EG-Si cells showed an absolute efficiency improvement of 2.6%, but MG-Si cells suffered a reduction on the cell efficiency, an effect related to parasitic shunting existent in these cells.     

Advanced imaging of tau pathology in Alzheimer Disease: New perspectives from super resolution microscopy and label‐free nanoscopy

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the main cause of dementia in the elderly population. Over 30 million people worldwide are living with dementia and AD prevalence is projected to increase dramatically in the next two decades. In terms of neuropathology, AD is characterized by two major cerebral hallmarks: extracellular β‐amyloid (Aβ) plaques and intracellular Tau inclusions, which start accumulating in the brain 15‐20 years before the onset of symptoms. Within this context, the scientific community worldwide is undertaking a wide research effort to detect AD pathology at its earliest, before symptoms appear. Neuroimaging of Aβ by positron emission tomography (PET) is clinically available and is a promising modality for early detection of Aβ pathology and AD diagnosis. Substantive efforts are ongoing to develop advanced imaging techniques for early detection of Tau pathology. Here, we will briefly describe the key features of Tau pathology and its heterogeneity across various neurodegenerative diseases bearing cerebral Tau inclusions (i.e., tauopathies). We will outline the current status of research on Tau‐specific PET tracers and their clinical development. Finally, we will discuss the potential application of novel super‐resolution and label‐free techniques for investigating Tau pathology at the experimental level and their potential application for AD diagnosis. Microsc. Res. Tech. 79:677–683, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Constraining predictions of the carbon cycle using data

We use a carbon-cycle data assimilation system to estimate the terrestrial biospheric CO(2) flux until 2090. The terrestrial sink increases rapidly and the increase is stronger in the presence of climate change. Using a linearized model, we calculate the uncertainty in the flux owing to uncertainty in model parameters. The uncertainty is large and is dominated by the impact of soil moisture on heterotrophic respiration. We show that this uncertainty can be greatly reduced by constraining the model parameters with two decades of atmospheric measurements.     

Fatty acid composition of „Bebiko”︁ infant formula determined by support-coated open tubular gas chromatography

The composition of fatty acids of Polish infant formula (Bebiko 2R, Bebiko 2GR) and of milk powder and soybean oil as raw materials for their production has been determined. For separation of fatty acid methyl esters glass capillary columns coated with Silar-5 CP were used. Quantitative results of 37 fatty acids from “Bebiko” fat samples are tabulated.     

Assessment for instructional decisions: Toward a proactive/prevention model of decision-making for early literacy skills.

Uses a case study to illustrate a problem solving model of educational decision making using Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) measures to provide a local normative context, to monitor progress, and to evaluate the effects of interventions on an individual basis. The linkage between assessment information and educational decisions is demonstrated in the 4 phases of the problem solving model: Problem Identification, Problem Validation, Exploring Solutions, and Evaluating Solutions. For the case study, the problem solving model using DIBELS measures of phonological awareness provided important information regarding who to target for intervention, what skill to target in the intervention, and which interventions were effective. Using DIBELS measures of early literacy skills, educators can intervene early to prevent serious reading difficulties later. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of silicon ion implantation on the properties of a cast Co–Cr–Mo alloy

The effect of silicon ion implantation upon the corrosion resistance and structure of the cast Co–Cr–Mo alloy of the Vitalium type, was examined. The silicon fluences were 1.5, 3.0 and 4.5 × 10¹⁷Si⁺ cm^-2. The surface layer of the Vitalium samples implanted with these silicon doses was found to become amorphous. Further annealing of the samples at 200 °C resulted in the Cr₃Co₅Si₂ phase being formed, whereas the amorphous layer was preserved. The Vitalium samples submerged in the 0.9% NaCl solution underwent mainly uniform corrosion, irrespective of whether or not they had been implanted with Si⁺ ions. With increasing doses of implanted silicon and after annealing at 200 °C (samples implanted with 1.5 × 10¹⁷Si⁺ cm^-2), the corrosion resistance increased. The thickness of the oxide layer formed during the anodic polarization depended on the implanted silicon doses. This revised version was published online in November 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Pervaporation for Drying and Dewatering

Dewatering denotes moisture removal from materials and it is a more general term than drying. In dehydration and drying technology, a growing role of modern techniques used either separately or in hybrid solutions is observed. Membrane techniques find many industrial applications in this field. Based on available literature, examples of dehydration on membranes, important from the viewpoint of energy saving, environmental protection, and recoverable energy sources, are presented in this study. Special attention is given to the process of pervaporation as the most modern and promising technique for azeotropic mixture separation to be used in dehydration of solvents, including alcohols, and removal of volatile organic compounds from sewage, concentration of aromas, and separation of multicomponent systems.